Soulbound Risk: A Tale of Erinn
by Izeiya
Summary: A Mabinogi-based story. Legend has it that every generation, an evil group known as the Crusade revives and taints the world with their darkness. The only way to beat them are the fighters known as the Flame Holders, who each bears a certain element. Asaya Hirotomi and Zale Everglade goes on an adventure as their generation's Flame Holders to find the others and the truth.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is a fanfiction that I've been writing for a year and decided to make it public. The setting of this lovely story takes place in the wonderful fantasy online game called Mabinogi. With that said, all Credit Mabinogi related does not belong to me. but Nexon and Devcat themselves. I only own the OCs (with friend's permission, but credit goes to them still of course) and the plot.

I'll be honest, this was supposed to be a script for a series I have been planning on doing for Mabinogi with a couple friends of mine. But due to reasons like one of them can't go on Mabi anymore because they don't have a computer and one of them don't feel like playing anymore, it was cancelled. I decided to write it to a story and then BOOM. This happened. So yeaaah..Thank you for taking the time to read this. Enjoy the first chapter and please review~!

I have up to Chapter 9 in this story. I am writing Chapter 10, probably as you read this.

* * *

 _I_

 _ **THE FLAME THAT STARTED IT ALL**_

 _There was a tale from long ago about four chosen fighters who saved and created the world we live in. These chosen fighters served to stop the evil known as the Crusade, whose sole purpose was to destroy the entire world. Our world back then was filled with wastelands. Everyone was poor. No one was helping each other, and they carried no hope until the four fighters appeared. The Crusade wanted nothing, but to see suffering and hatred. It made them feel alive to see them feel empty and hurt. However, the chosen ones decided that it was enough and rebelled against them. They each had a power they used to retaliate. That power was.._

Under a clear blue sky, a group of young boys were tossing around a dark-haired young girl as they laughed maniacally. The girl was being shoved, and occasionally punched around as she took every hit with a squeak escaping from her mouth. There was nothing she can do for she was merely outnumbered by a group of fifteen year olds. One last punch sent her falling to the ground with a loud thud, leaving the flowers she was carrying out of her hands.

"You're so boring, kid!" One of the boys screamed, kicking the girl on the stomach. A painful groan was soon heard as she wrapped an arm around it. "Can you at least entertain us a bit?!"

The girl didn't respond as her blue eyes turned to the group fearfully. She was twelve years of age. Her hair length was up to her shoulders with her bangs flowing to the left side. In total, there were four teenagers surrounding her. She didn't want to fight, and even if she did, she would lose the battle. The child did not know how to fight to begin with.

One of the boys decided to stomp on her side as yet another painful cry was released. "Stupid, stupid, stupid kid! Say something!"

Her side was attacked with every slurred word of hatred from his mouth. The others laughed at her helpless state. She began to feel the blood rush in from her head as well as the numbness. What could she possibly say to a group of teens who bully her every day for fun? No matter how many times she tells them to stop, the damage would worsen. If she says any fighting words, it will result the same. It was to the point that no matter what she say, she will still be in the world of pain. A voice rang through her head, causing her to finally act. Her hand caught the boy's feet to cease the stomping, "Will..Will you stop, please?"

The boy grinned mischievously at the sight of the girl giving him a look of struggle before using his other foot to kick her head. Promptly, the child let go of his foot from the sneak attack.

"Finally, the nun talked! About time!" The attacker responded in triumph before the other boys joined with their friend on the abusive act. The girl shielded her face from the kicks with her arms, knowing that blood was already trickling down her forehead. Suddenly, footsteps were heard rushing to the scene and she managed to hear someone screaming her name before one of the boys was tackled.

"Zale!" The blue-eyed female cried out the newcomer's name, who started fighting the boys single-handedly. She started pushing herself from the ground to watch the fight, not knowing what to do. Zale is one year older than her. He has dirty blonde messy hair with green eyes.

Her friend gave her an angry look and quickly yelled, "Asaya, run! Back home!"

Asaya winced at the sound of a punch landing on his face before putting on a worried look. She shook her head in refusal of his request, receiving an unsatisfied look from the dirty blonde. The girl isn't going to leave. Their house were literally five minutes away! Finally on her feet, another person entered the scene for it turned out to be an old man she recognized as the town leader. He walked past her as Asaya felt a wave of relief that someone had come to stop this meaningless fight. She watched in worry with her hands clasping in front of her chest.

"You little rascals! Stop this at once!" Each boy received a good smack on their head by the old man's cane. "Devin, I will tell your mother once again what you are doing to this poor girl."

He pointed at the said girl with his cane while the girl flinched in wary of the boy named Devin giving her a smug look. "Ha! Not like she'll remember what happened tomorrow anyway."

"Watch it!" Zale defended angrily, narrowing his eyes at the teenager.

Asaya frowned solemnly while lowering her head down in shame. She could see the blood from her forehead on the ground. The group of boys started laughing at her pitiful state before receiving another whack on the head by the elder's cane. Zale slowly moved towards to the girl and was about to put his hand on her shoulder. He stopped after seeing her bleeding forehead, causing him to lightly growl in irritation. Finally, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning to look at the elder and teenagers. The town leader sighed heavily and turned to the duo, "Zale, take her back home and tend to her wound immediately. I will deal with these troublemakers."

The group started to sneak away the moment the elder looked away. Asaya was the first one to notice and immediately put on an astonished look. She was about to warn the man, however, the old man waved his cane in a circular motion at the boy's direction. An immediate yellow ring sparkled around the four boys, who couldn't move a single budge.

"Oh dammit." One of the boys murmured.

Zale and Asaya was shocked at the sudden power. The young male should be used to it already, but the girl wasn't. This power is still new to her. Being the first one to recover, Zale nodded his head at the town elder before taking the girl's hand.

"Thank you, Elder Duncan."

Asaya quickly bowed her head meekly at the elder just as soon as her friend pulled her away from the scene. She had her head turned from looking at the scene for several minutes as they head to their home.

The name of their town is called Tir Chonail. It is a very nice and small village where everyone practically knows each other. Zale and Asaya both live in a local inn where they had to pay nothing for it. The owner decided to let them live in a room due to their young age. The young girl always volunteer at the local church to help the priestess while Zale was attending the combat school in the village. Because of the church and the school being close, it was easier for Zale to look after Asaya.

Entering the inn, the two didn't see the owner and her husband around the building. They proceeded to walk upstairs. "Thank you..Again."

Zale heard Asaya say in a depressed tone. He stayed quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. The girl saw a reassuring smile from him when he turned around to face her. "I told you I'd protect you." Zale then looked forward with a frown, "That was low of them to make fun of your amnesia like that."

It almost sounded like a growl from Asaya as she pursed her lips in silence. "What were you doing out though?" The boy asked curiously while putting the key inside the knob keyhole.

Asaya shifted her eyes to the side, "I..I wanted to visit your parents."

"..."

The silent young man stopped in the middle of opening the door, leaving a confused Asaya behind him. Eventually, Zale walked in the room without a word. It has been a year since the death of his parents. A vanilla smell aroma scented the small inn room. Two beds with a window behind each one was seen the moment they entered. On their right side was a family picture of Zale's family, excluding the blue-eyed girl. Underneath it was a small desk with his father and mother's picture on it as a candle lit up in between. On their left was the small dining space taking up the corner. The table and chairs as well as the kitchen is a part of it.

Zale placed his shield and sword on his bed as Asaya went to her bed to sit on the left side of it. Across from her is the bathroom, where she watched a certain someone go in a minute later. Her head lowered, feeling somewhat guilty for mentioning his parents. Times like these often silent the blue-eyed female. A moment later, the dirty blonde came out of the bathroom in another change of clothes. He was wearing a simple shirt and pants that he deems his home clothes. Asaya realized afterwards that she should be doing the same. The young girl leaped off the bed to approach a drawer beside her bed. Her nun outfit had gotten messed up from her fight with the bullies. The black dress and her hair was damped. Asaya picked out a white nightgown with a blue ribbon around the collar. It was a long sleeve dress covering her entire body that Zale's mother tailored for her. She heard the jiggles of a key behind her. The quiet one decided to ignore it, knowing it was Zale.

"I'm going to buy groceries for dinner real quick."

"Okay. Be careful!" The worried girl cried out after him. The boy flashed her a cheeky grin when he opened the door and walked out while closing it. Asaya understands fully how reckless he can be. After putting on a smile and staring at the door, the child entered the bathroom to change.

 _Having a power holds great responsibility because not only you have a gift to save yourself, but also a power to save others. People may come after a certain power to use it for selfish reasons. Even the holder themselves may use it for the same reason, or to a certain extent of evil. Even the four fighters knew that common sense except one. Legend has it that every hundred years, a group of people inherit a "flame." But, I learned that this legend was a lie. These chosen fighters had a red, blue, green, and silver flame. This is the only hope of mankind to defeat the Crusade._

Asaya exited the bathroom, and the first thing she noticed is the fact that Zale was nowhere to be found in the small inn room. A wave of worry started to overwhelm her soul. She knew that it shouldn't have taken that long to get groceries. He is a very fast runner too. The young girl knew that she should wait, but a gut feeling is bothering her.

Almost on cue, an explosion erupted outside her window. Asaya let out a startled shriek while covering her ears. Her heart started racing after a momentarily earthquake was felt before loud screams were heard. 'What's going on?!' The blue-eyed girl thought frantically until a gasp of realization escaped her lips.

"Zale!" She cried out before leaving the inn room to find her friend. She could hear the screams of the villagers, and the constant explosions. Once she left the building, she became horrified by the hectic commotion known as war.

The trees are burning and the scent of bloodlust flow the air with its nasty aura. Adults were running away from these scary looking monsters in armor. Everything look chaotic to the frightened girl. One thing was still in her mind, and it was Zale's safety. She started running to the direction of the grocery store while screaming out his name. At the same time, Asaya tried her best to stay away from the monsters. Being extra careful during her search, Zale was still nowhere to be seen. What is happening to the village, she constantly wondered.

"The Crusade..! They're back! H-How?!"

"Everyone run!"

Asaya heard the majority of the people yelling before screams of excruciating pain filled the atmosphere. She could only run from witnessing the villagers being murdered one by one. When she was close to the grocery store, the young girl's heart sank and stepped back to hide behind a tree. The small store were engulfed by flames, leaving nothing but monsters and bodies around the town square. She was beginning to fear for Zale. As much as she wanted to run to check the bodies, the monsters were the only things stopping her. Her entire body began to shake from the fear as she clutched on the tree bark tightly. _'Zale..Where are you?'_

Within a mob running, the black-haired female caught sight of the bullies. They were running from an armored horse with fusing bombs attached at each side. It was ready to blow up any minute. She took a step towards their general direction with a hand reaching out to them. Her mouth opened wanting to call out to them, but she stopped herself. What can she even do to help? Uneasiness settled in as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. A look of devastation dramatically formed on her face. Before she could even move or say a single word, a shadow fell over the small child. With widened eyes, Asaya turned around to see a person in a black, gold, and white robe covering their entire identity towering her. She couldn't see their eyes or face. Taking a cautious step back, the horrified female started to form tears in the corner of her blue eyes.

" **No...You're not the one."** A deep voice spoke to her before the robed man disperse in thin air.

A loud scream brought the child back to reality. Turning back around as fast as she can, her hands soon covered her mouth after watching an explosion take place from afar. The aftermath of an earthquake caused her to hang on to the tree nearby. Her hand still cover her mouth as she muffled, "No.."

"Asaya, come with me!" A rough hand grabbed her wrist before pulling her away from the smoking scenery.

The frozen girl noticed that the one with her was the town elder. She didn't say a word or look at him. The only reason she knew it was him was by his voice. Tears were streaming down her face as she helplessly lowered her head. The two ended up in the ruins that used to be known as the blacksmith shop. It was still smoking and the burning smell was enough to disgust the child more. The shop is located in the southern plains, away from the chaos at the town center. Duncan opened a door planted on the ground, soon showing a face of a middle age woman. Other villagers were hiding away from the devastation, much to her relief. The elder picked up the girl gently to hand her to the woman. Before she allowed herself to hide, she immediately looked back at the old man in bewilderment.

"Wait! But Zale..!"

"Asaya?!"

The girl winced at the familiar voice calling her name before looking down and past the woman's shoulder. As she was being carried down, the woman handed her to a pair of arms that soon embraced her in a tight hug. Asaya, not being able to see in the somewhat spacious and dark cave, didn't know who it was until he spoke the words, "I'm glad you're safe."

She sobbed and returned his hug, "Zale!"

"Elder, where are you going?" The woman who grabbed Asaya cried out worriedly. The children broke the hug to join the others watching what was going on at the hideout entrance above. Asaya calmed herself while wiping her eye.

Duncan gave her a resigned look, "I have to stop this destruction." He smiled and looked at the other villagers, who was shocked by his response. "Take care of each other. The Crusade will not destroy my village."

"Wait!" Zale cried out after the old man, but the door already closed.

The villagers started whispering among themselves, expressing lament towards the town elder. A few people started to cry due to the situation, especially whimpering during the quakes shattering the ceiling. Asaya hanged on dearly to her friend, using his shirt to catch her tears. But, she could sense his urge to help fight. The child hugging him could sense the anger, causing her to slowly glance up to him. Before she could say anything, the dirty blonde gently lifted her off his shirt as a confused look was shown.

"Zale?" She murmured softly, hoping he wasn't going to do anything stupid.

Looking down at her with a gentle smile, he placed his hand on her shoulder before standing straight. Asaya quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him from going up the ladder. "No! Don't go."

"Elder Duncan is going to get killed! I can't wait here and do nothing!"

Straightening herself up slowly with a concerned look, her hands clasped together underneath her chin as if begging him to reconsider. "You're going to get yourself killed too!"

Zale gave his friend one last glare before continuing his advance to the door. She let out a choking sound of disbelief. He refused to listen to her, and Asaya didn't want him to leave after finally reuniting with him. Zale is very close to her despite not knowing her own family history. If it wasn't for him, she would've been lost. The fact that she doesn't have any clue to stop him made her feel so helpless. At this point, she was willing to bet he isn't going to stop. At all.

"Zale, please!"

The other villagers were concerned as well, but no one had the nerve to aid her in her attempt to stop her only friend. It bugged her greatly. Her heart sank the moment he stepped on the ladder step as her eyes widened. The ground above started rumbling, leaving the debris fall on the people underground. The pressure was too much. What can a thirteen year old like Zale do? He didn't have his sword and shield due to Asaya, who wanted to find Zale as soon as possible. If she had the right mind, things would have been different. Grinding her teeth angrily, a sudden white aura surrounded the twelve year old. Everyone, including the escaping boy, froze to look at the source of the light. They watched in awe as surreal winds blew around the child, who doesn't realize what was going on. She kept her eyes closed while in a praying like stance, letting her emotions consume her. The villagers begin to question what was happening to the young one and themselves as the winds grew powerful. It was to the point the ground started shaking immensely. Zale's hand slipped to his surprise as he fell on his bottom due to the earthquake. The debris didn't contact the villagers almost like a barrier was protecting them.

Zale groaned, rubbing his lower back, "Oww..Hey, Asa-"

His voice trailed off after realizing that the light around his friend had gotten brighter. He fell in utter silence, speechless as to what was happening. Before long, orbs of white light came out of Asaya and ascended to the surface.

Back in the town, the elder was in a pinch. Using too much power resulted Duncan to be on the ground with monsters surrounding him. The moment he thought it was over, all of his enemies suddenly was attacked by light orbs. They all vanished after immediate contact, leaving black smoke trail to the air. Every single monster was defeated, leaving the one responsible to a deep slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: If anyone wonders why this is under the Mabinogi section, well, it's because this story takes place in Erinn first of all. Some things mention here may or may not be in the game. The people in this story are based off of my friends and myself. Sooo..yeah...**

 **Disclaimer: All Mabinogi related does not belong to me. I only own the OCs (with friend's permission of course.)**

 **Thanks for reading~!**

* * *

 _II_

 _ **Journey's Calling**_

A startled gasp escaped my mouth before lifting myself up to sit straight. I was panting heavily while raising my hand to place it on my head gently. A wave of pain settled in as I recalled the hurt from back then. After one last heavy sigh to recover, I took in a large amount of air before exhaling.

"What a random flashback.." I murmured softly before falling backwards to hit my pillow.

That time was nearly five years ago when the monsters of darkness attacked Tir Chonail. It was the time of beginning, and the time of when a hint of my identity finally hit me. After that night, the monsters never came back. Every single town villager helped rebuild the town and mourn the people we lost that night. The amount of deaths were tragically horrible for it was up to half the town's population. The elder gave me recognition after Zale told him what happened while I was out cold. That was also when I was introduced to what the power I used was. Flames, he called it. They were auras passed down generation to generation in order to protect the world of Erinn. He told Zale and I of a tale long ago about four chosen flame holders fighting against the Crusade. However, that was all Elder Duncan told us. There are seven types of flames. I'm only familiar with yellow, green, and silver. Though, it seems the important ones are silver, green, red, and blue.

Since then, I had been training myself how to channel and control my power with the help of the elder. He wields the power of the yellow flame, lightning. About two months of my training, something _interesting_ had happened.

Startling me, the door opened as it soon was revealed to be Zale. I could see his dirty blonde spiky hair. Judging by his half armor and half clothing uniform, it was obvious he just came back from combat class. I slowly straightened myself up and rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"Finally awake, sleepyhead?" Zale grinned slyly, putting his sword and shield on his bed.

I lazily glanced at the clock hanging on the wall beside me and saw that it was ten minutes before noon. Seems like I slept in again. Letting out a heavy sigh, I pushed the blanket to the side before stretching my arms out above me. Ever since I found out about my flame, I've been sleeping in more than usual. It was possibly due to the fact I'm seventeen and I get tired from training my power.

I lowered my arms to push myself off the bed, "Can't blame me. Combat training?"

"Nah. Was training my flame." Zale responded casually while looking through the fridge. That's right - Even Zale has a flame. He carries the green flame, which is the power of wind. The both of us found out about his power after a certain incident with bandits trying to rob a traveling merchant. Escorting merchants from the next town by the name of Dunbarton to our village is part of their combat training. Students weren't allowed to go to other cities, otherwise, they would be expelled.

"What do you want for lunch?" Asked the dirty blonde, who is taking out a couple ingredients from the refrigerator.

I crouched in front of my drawer with a tiring look, "Food."

"What kind of food?" I grabbed a handful of clothes, trying to decide what to wear.

I stood up after I made my decision and headed to the bathroom, "Surprise me."

Nothing much changed in the village after the day of reconstruction. The nuns and I looking after the children always tell the story to the young ones. It was as if the Crusade's comeback was a shocker to us all. We literally lost the majority of the population in this already small village. One thing is for sure, if it weren't for that experience, I wouldn't have known this strange ability known as flames.

I still work at the church with the priestess Endelyon and the priest Meven. Parents normally drop their kids off in the building, thus serving it as a daycare as well. It's been implemented about a month after the chaos. Zale, being one of the top students in his combat school, has a job in the blacksmithing industry. He's been smithing a shield and sword for himself even up until this present day. Not only that, flame training is added into his busy schedule.

After taking a shower and ate brunch of seafood spaghetti, both Zale and I got ready for the rest of the day. Wearing a plain white strapped dress exposing my shoulders, the seams around the end of the dress, the tube top, and the middle of the dress has a violet faded color. A purple bow adorned my middle back. My black hair grew longer over the years, but styled in a thin cut down my middle back. It slightly covered my dress bow. The plan for the day is a short walk around the northern plains near the Ciar caves. Zale wanted to do more training with our flames and combat. I figured I would go with him in case he gets hurt seriously. Carrying the silver flame, all I can do is heal. I have several light-attributed attacks, but unlike Zale, I don't have a weapon to boost it. My main reason of not having one is because I had hurt myself trying to wield Zale's sword two years ago. He wanted me to try it out for the sake of self-defense. It really..didn't turn out well.

"There's been a lot of bandits attacking merchants lately." The warrior in training had always been talking these things. Bandits, how he's doing with training, and his progress with his "masterpiece." Ever since his parents died, all he's been wanting to do was to get stronger and find the one responsible for their deaths.

"Well...With the new items and everything, I'd bet." I replied nonchalantly. Sometimes I wonder if he remembers I don't have any memories still. My big question up to this point has always been whether I want to know who I am or not. This dilemma has been like this the moment Zale found me. Fortunately, I still remember my name and age.

"It's crazy though! It's gotten to the point they added bounties for these outlaws."

I pursed my lips tightly on my straight face before sighing heavily. I knew he was right. There were times when I volunteer to go with him to escort merchants, and of course, it was inevitable for bandits to attack us. Zale wouldn't allow them, especially he gets a bit overboard since I was there healing.

We entered the northern plains where wolves walk around leisurely. As long as we don't disturb them, they wouldn't attack. I followed Zale through the plains. I was beginning to feel skeptical towards the man. He wants to train here, so why are we still moving on?

Finally, I asked, "Zale, where are we going?"

"To Ciar."

Immediately, I stopped walking and opened my eyes in astonishment, "Zale! We're not allowed to go there!"

He continued walking forward while I stayed standing on this spot. The Ciar Caves were prohibited to the villagers from what I know. Anyone with the permission of the Elder was allowed to go in there. Zale sounded so confident as if there was something he isn't telling me.

Eventually, he stopped moving and turned around to look at me with a very determined look. It somewhat startled me for a moment until he spoke, "I know. I just wanted to check something though."

I shook my head in disapproval, "Even so. We're not.." I paused to let out a loud gasp. Suddenly creeping from behind the man was the same robed stranger I saw five years ago. Slowly lifting my hands to my mouth, I stared in complete shock at the unknown person. Just looking at him and his shadowed face brought memories of when the Crusade attacked our village.

Zale gave me a strange look before approaching me slowly, "Asaya, what's wrong?"

" _ **Still not strong enough…"**_

Out of fear, I took a step back away for the stranger was following after the warrior. I didn't understand how Zale isn't able to sense his presence. The sight I was witnessing is far more unrealistic than I thought it would be. As soon as the dirty blonde warrior was near me, the stranger vanished in thin air. This eased my entire being as my shoulders relaxed. I failed to realize that the person in front of me was worried.

"Hey!" Zale called out, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

I fell silent, putting on a solemn look. At this point, I didn't know what to think. A mysterious man keeps showing up, and this wasn't the first time I saw him near Zale. Suddenly, wolves started to surround us while growling angrily. Their fangs bare at us menacingly. Upon noticing this, Zale jumped with a surprised look and stared at the wolves slowly coming towards us. I calmly glanced to both of my sides, now feeling the hostility in the air.

"Why are they mad? We didn't do anything."

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Yet."

Zale gave me one last worried look in confusion before one wolf leaped towards him at his blind spot. Out of instinct, I jumped towards the targeted warrior to forcefully bring him down to the ground in attempt to evade the attack.

I rolled off of Zale, yelling. "Start fighting!"

"Okay!"

He started killing the wolves one by one. Luckily for us, there were only ten wolves. It was a piece of cake for the top student, but as for me, I had a difficult time dodging and trying to evade the wolves. I usually use my arms as a shield or to parry when I have to. This is something I learned from watching Zale.

I was then grabbed by my wrist before being pulled away from the coming wolves. Although the action startled me greatly, it succeeded on bringing me back to reality. I was relieved we weren't actually going in Ciar. However, I couldn't help but sense the intensity from the warrior. Did he really want to go to the Ciar caves? Who was that person in the robe? The both of us continued running through the plains to head back to the village. I occasionally look back to check if they were wolves still chasing us, but it seems like they had stopped coming much to my added relief.

"Zale, why did you lead us there? You know it's dangerous." I scolded him the moment we stopped running.

He used his hand that was around my wrist to pat my head before lowering it, "I'm sorry. I just needed to go there.."

Something felt off when he apologized. I assumed it was either his reason to look at the caves or the fact that he seemed to have forgotten the true motive of being here. Whatever it was, I decided to let this go for now. Deian, the shepherd boy, was in our view with his sheep farm. I folded my arms bluntly, putting my lips together in silence as I watched the suspicious Zale carefully. We began walking closer to the farm before noticing a dark-haired boy around Deian's age talking to him. The two boys turned to our direction before watching as the shepherd boy point at us.

I blinked dumbfounded, "What's going on now?"

I moved slowly behind the warrior, feeling the timid nature of mine kicking in. The boy gave Deian a respectful bow before making his way towards us. Both Zale and I stopped walking and gave each other a look of confusion. The young boy had crazy black spike hair and dark gray eyes. His entire outfit looked as shady as he was. A black and white shirt hoodie with zippers running vertically along the sleeves. Underneath was a black and white striped shirt. His right arm completely covered by a black and white square patterned gauntlet while his left wrist was covered by a black and white band. His black pants had these crossed white belts that carries his duo weapons. They look somewhat similar to nunchucks. Finally, his black and white rubber shoes completed his outfit. Besides that, he carried a dark blue messenger bag around his left shoulder.

"Zale Everglade and Asaya Hirotomi, right?" The boy asked sternly the minute he met up with us.

The male near me nodded his head, "That's us."

For a moment, the young boy gave me a curious glance before clearing his throat, "My name is Oguri Kisaragi. I came from the capitol, Tara. Are you two familiar with the Crusade?"

"Our village was destroyed by them five years ago.." I answered softly, trying not to remember the tragedy.

Oguri smirked slyly, "So, it's true.."

A sudden movement from the boy happened that shocked us both. He took out his weapons, revealing them to be tonfas, and swiftly stabbed the ground with one of them. Ice started to form beneath the impacted spot, causing Zale and I to jump back in astonishment.

"Ice?! You have a flame?" The warrior spouted warily, holding up his shield from instinct. The ice attack took me off guard as well for I was speechless. This boy possessed a flame like us and the elder Duncan. 'Are there more people like us out there?' I wondered at this point. A blue aura surrounded the child and his weapons. He nodded his head silently to answer Zale's question. The aura disappeared slowly before he placed the tonfas back on the belt latch.

"I talked to the elder of this village about the Crusade attack and if he knows anyone other than himself with flames. So..Here I am." Oguri shrugged carelessly. "But, with a request."

"Request?" Zale and I responded in unison.

He nodded his head again, "The Crusade are making a comeback. They already destroyed towns after yours years ago. A prophet came to me personally days ago telling me that I'm one of the chosen fighters." Oguri paused to sigh heavily in slight disappointment. "You probably don't believe me at this point. Even I didn't believe the prophet. But then I remembered this power. I'm one of the special ones in this world to wield a flame."

He then individually glanced at both of us, "If the prophet is right, then you two are the chosens with the silver and green flame, right?"

I admit, a prophet saying that unbelievable assumption really was enough to make me more skeptical. Something is telling me that the words out of Oguri's mouth is true. Even if it is true, it's simply hard to believe that we are supposed to be the chosen fighters of this generation.

"The Elder didn't just...tell you our flame colors or anything, right?" Zale asked, making sure that Oguri isn't lying to us.

The boy shook his head, "He didn't."

I glanced at the skeptical warrior before sighing lightly. The Crusade had been attacking towns, so it would make sense if the four chosen fighters make a comeback as well. From legends, they are the only people who can stop the evil group. There are just so many things about flames that I'm not fully aware of. I took a quick look at Oguri, and could see the determination in his gray eyes. Then, I saw something strange behind the young child. Just for a second, I could see a silhouette of a woman with black wings and closed eyes before the image vanished.

"I..don't know.."

"I believe him, Zale." I hesitantly spoke with a stern look. I then turned my attention to the blue flame wielder from the open air an unknown figure was once located. "I have the silver flame and he has the green flame."

Something in me snapped when I saw that woman. It was a feeling of purpose as if I want to _know_ what these strange figures that I keep seeing are. So I decided finally I will believe this stranger.

"That's great. My request is I want you two to come help me defeat the Crusade." At this point, I could sense the anger in the tone of his voice.

His dark eyes narrowed, tilting his head to the side. "They killed my friends and family. I can't forgive them. So, please, I need your help. Rather..This world needs our help."

"But wait, what if there are other silver and green flame holders out there?" Zale questioned, folding his arms.

"There are, but you two carry the true flame of your elements."

All three of us jumped at the new voice, joining in on the conversation. A person slowly approached us as we all recognized him to be Duncan, the town elder.


	3. Chapter 3

_**III**_

 _ **Oguri Kisaragi**_

"The only exception is the silver flame. The other flame holders will either be a hybrid with other elements or carries the same flame."

He gave us a stern look as the rest of us froze. The elder was obviously listening in to our conversation. There were many things he pointed out that made me question the old man. For example, the fact that the silver flame belongs to a single person. That one bit of information surprised me, especially knowing now that I'm the only one with this flame. The three of us observed carefully at the man standing near the group.

"I don't understand still, Elder. How are we the ones to fight against the Crusade?" I started asking one of my many questions. Folding my arms, I waited anxiously for the answer and was caught off guard when he slowly lifted his arm to point at me.

"You."

I blink dumbfounded, "Huh?"

Duncan pulled his finger back and motioned his hand to wave at us. It was a silent gesture telling us to follow him. He turned around silently to start walking back to the village. Zale was the first one to follow, then the young Oguri. I remained behind for a moment to stare blankly at the back of the elder's head. An overwhelming feeling of anxiety suddenly flow within me. This feeling is somewhat nostalgic as if I have gone through this before. Something major in my life is soon to happen.

Running after the men, I tried my best to catch up to them. By the time I reached them, they were about to walk through the bridge. We passed the inn and the windmill for it is the first thing to go through when entering the village. I have no idea where the elder is taking us. He stopped talking completely, but rather was watching a group of children playing near the giant tree at the town square. Behind the tree is the place Duncan was leading us, his house.

We went up a stairway of logs as the Elder open the door, "Come in. There's someone I would like you to meet."

Zale nodded his head towards the Elder, who was holding the door for us, before walking inside. I bowed my head politely for his kind gesture, feeling a bit nervous and awkward for going into a house for the first time. It must be confidential if we were going to talk in his house. His house is smaller than what I had expected, despite it being two stories. From the entrance, we descended down by a ladder to where a rocking chair near a fireplace is located. The three of us stood quietly, waiting for the old man to shut the door and join us. We heard the door shutting, followed by unexpected and sudden meowing from behind the chair. It made me jump with Zale, leaving Oguri not fazed, and the elder going down the ladder. Duncan looked indifferent to the constant meowing noises as he sat down on the chair. A small creature lurked around him, revealing itself to be a small black-striped and orange cat. The feline slowly approached us, staring us down with its sharp eyes lock on us.

"Aww...It's so cute." The dirty blonde mused, crouching down to pet it.

The cat immediately narrowed its eyes at the hand and smacked his hand away with its paw, "Get your filthy hand away from me, human!"

The startled Zale immediately pulled his hand back and fell on his bottom after hearing the cat speak. Oguri and I looked as surprised as the warrior, watching as the one on the ground scream at the small creature.

"It talks!?"

"The kitty just talked..!"

Zale and I both exclaimed, receiving a blank stare from Oguri like he issn't amused at all by it. Honestly, it isn't every day you get to see a talking cat. The animal gave us a stare individually with interest hinted in her eyes before turning to look at the observing elder.

"These three are definitely them. They are the ones in my prophecy."

Duncan nodded his head in acknowledgement at the cat before looking up at us, "This is Devory. She is a prophet who is knowledgeable about the tale of the fighters as well as a descendant of a prophet with an ability to see who the flame warriors are in her generation."

"It is an honor to be in the presence of the next chosens."

I flinched the moment her sharp eyes flicker to my direction. With blank eyes widening, my heart started to wrench and beat faster every second. Her voice and that word _chosens_ sound so familiar, but why was it making me feel pain? This nostalgic pain in my heart. I slowly placed my hand on my head, gritting my teeth as an attempt to refrain myself from screaming. This excruciating pain triggered a foot to step back, only to feel someone grab my shoulders from behind.

"Hey, what's wrong Asaya?" Oguri's voice was heard.

The cat solemnly closed her eyes, "Give her a moment."

I closed my eyes shut, only to see images flashing one by one. In the background of a pitch dark scene, I heard a heartbreaking scream bellowing. An image of a tall man holding my hand opening a rather large door appeared and vanished to another image. A woman was knitting a blanket, but as I moved closer and closer, the image blurred to nothing. The last image was consumed by smoke and fire, and the same bellowing scream of horror came to play. I came back to reality after opening my eyes, and started to pant heavily.

"Memories..?!" I gasped out, realizing that my aura had been surrounding me the entire time. By the time I came to, it was disappearing. Oguri kept hold of me as Zale was watching me with concern. My blue eyes strained to look down at the cat, who is smirking rather suspiciously before opening her eyes.

"Your duties as the chosen goes. Your goal now is to find the last chosen, then go to Tara to meet with the prophet there." Devory paused to look at the youngest child, "I understand he has met her before. So once you all are together, your task will be given."

Oguri narrowed his eyes at the feline, "Don't you mean we will meet _you_ instead?"

The cat started giggling in a rather adorable yet creepy way as Zale and I snapped our heads to the blue flame warrior. Oguri gently released his grip on me, but luckily, I was now more stable than a few minutes ago. He did said a prophet had come to him to tell him that he was one of the chosen fighters, and Devory looked like she had no problem identifying us. Not only that, the visions I had earlier made me believe more of the fact that I am one of the chosens, along with Zale and Oguri.

She purred in amusement, "Interesting..So, you knew~."

The feline moved towards the place she came from behind the rocking chair as smoke started trailing her. Upon noticing this, Duncan was abnormally silent while stirring his tea as the child called out to the prophet.

"Hey! Come back!" Afterwards, Devory was nowhere to be seen. The young boy scoffed in annoyance. I could sense how irritated he must have been, but Zale was much resigned to accept this.

In the end, Zale and I chose to start packing for our journey. The elder gave me a pair of chakram rings that was said to be the weapons of the last silver flame holder. It also served as a reward from the village after I had unknowingly saved them long ago. I didn't know how in the world they got them. I was being modest; They shouldn't have done something like this. Another thing: I don't know how exactly to use these! Maybe..throw them? What if it gets lost? I guess I'll eventually get used to it. We were to embark as soon as possible on our journey to find the final flame warrior. Oguri asked if we can pack the leftover food in the fridge, which Zale immediately approved. The elder told the situation to the inn owner Nora, so we didn't have to worry about our room. Zale and I will be bringing a brown backpack similar to each other. The only difference is that mine has a bunny keychain and it's slung over my shoulder. I brought a nightgown, an umbrella, a sleeping bag, and a few other personal things. Zale brought his personal items as well as a surprise..Well, to Oguri and I.

"What is THAT?" I asked curiously, poking at his new shield.

Zale grinned proudly, "I finally finished my weapons! The Valkyrie shield and the Executioner's Sword!"

The shield is a badge-shaped covering half of his body. I knew he had been working on this project, but I didn't know he already finished it. In the middle of it is a green gem with a chain strap coming from the gem's sides to the edge of the shield vertically. The base is a metal gray while the rim has a somewhat dark green. Underneath the green gem is another chain strap coming from the side. Finally, he attached wings on each upper corners of the shield. The wings are white as the rim around is a dark green.

Executioner's Sword is a long sword that looks like one of those common katanas travelers seem to carry around. The guard is a small pair of wings identical to the ones on the shield.

Oguri casually walked up to the shield the warrior was showing off, and decided to knock on it gently.

"That's pretty impressive."

"Hey! Don't touch it!"

I sighed heavily at the touchy Zale with a blank look on my face before I slowly glanced at the child. It amazes me how calm the young blue flame warrior at times like this. I imagined someone would get annoyed or guilty if someone would yell at you like how Zale did. Oguri was just...calm. Having to lose important people at such a young age must have been hard on him. Unfortunately, I can't sympathize with him. While the two were conversing with each other, I was deciding what to wear. I've never thought that I would go adventure the entire world. Maybe now, I can recover my memories. Zale had already picked an outfit to wear. It is a light red short sleeved shirt with white fur along the sleeves. It has a hood with, again, the fur around the edges. Two dark brown leather straps adorned right underneath hood as it served to separate the hood and the coat. On the shoulders are metal buttons around the clothing vertically. Underneath his light red coat is a white vest like shirt with a visible black strap slanted across the vest. On the outer layer lies a dark brown cross-stitched belt slanted across his body. His pants are black with a bandage covering the entire right knee as his bottom fit is rolled up. His shoes are fashionably red and black, and he is wearing long fingerless white gloves with three dark brown leather straps. Just observing his outfit makes me wonder why he is wearing a theme not compatible to his flame. Then again, I can say the same to Oguri.

In my drawer, I came across a dress that I had bought from a traveling merchant visiting the town about a month ago. It was fairly cheap, so I decided that I should buy it. Maybe it's about time I put it to use. Without a word, I walked in the bathroom with my entire outfit in my arms. My other hand was carrying a pair of boots. My outfit has a lolita gothic style. It has an individual white hood as a black transparent gem served as a latch of the hood in order for the hood to not fall. The body of the dress has a purple corset lining up my chest, and has a white wavy layers underneath the corset. Behind the top layer is a white dress with three black frilly lining on the skirt. I wear black leggings with boots that are white with black fur. My shoulders are covered by a puffy long sleeves. They are purple with two black linings underneath the poofy part of the sleeves.

I left the bathroom with my other change of clothes and shoes before putting the clothes in my drawer. The shoes were placed under my bed. After we were all set and ready, it was time to leave the village.

I stared at the beautiful sunset, knowing full well I'm not going to see this in Tir in a very long time. It made me a bit sad leaving this town, despite it being the only town I can call home. I know having no memories can be my disadvantage when it comes to hometowns, but I know this small village will always be my home. I remained staring at the dusk scenery while Oguri and Zale were talking with the town elder.

"Zale, I hope your travels will go well and you all will be safe." I overheard Duncan saying.

The dirty blonde warrior nodded his head with a grin,"Thanks! You all take care too. We'll make sure the Crusade pay for destroying our village."

When I looked back at the two just out of curiosity, I caught sight of the young boy glancing at the green flame wielder. Although his face show a stoic and emotionless look, there was no doubt that Oguri was curious too. In a sense, I could understand that he knows what it was like to have his hometown attacked like us two. I remembered the day the group attacked us. Zale wanted to go help the elder Duncan badly. I was told that if it wasn't for me, the elder would have died. Zale would have gone to make matters worse. Just knowing that made me smile gently as I grab my wrist meekly.

"Take care, chosen warriors. We look forward to your return."

The three of us bowed formally to the old man before we started walking to start our journey.

We walked on a path of sheeps and dogs, indicating they were signs of the farm life of the small village we departed from. This path is known as Dugald Isle. It is a path that connects the small village to a city named Dunbarton. The logging camp where carpenters go to work at served as the middle point of the path. To the right side of it from the direction of Tir is Dugald forest. The small woods are populated by bears and wolves. A continuation of the path through there leads to Taillteann, or so I heard. Merchants Zale and I escort tend to go through that path. Because of the long path and our lack of supplies, our next destination is Dunbarton. I fell behind the two males with Oguri in the middle of Zale and I. Our small group had been silent since we left the village. Coming to our sight is the logging camp area. I could even smell the lumbar.

"Zale, where are we going first? Dunbarton, right?" Oguri questioned, finally breaking the silence. Even walking through the carpenter's work station is silent since the workers are home at this time of hour. It is just filled with hens, raccoons, and foxes.

"Yeah. Taillteann is farther than Dunbarton. We can start looking around that town first."

On each side of us are tents and wooden tables with tree stumps serving as chairs. Scattering around the area are the carpentry tables. In the middle of the camp is a giant tree, which we began passing.

Oguri folded his arms, "...I heard that town is awfully dangerous."

"Never been there?" I asked curiously, joining in the conversation. The leader snapped his head around lightly to look down at the boy with an astonished look. He probably was surprised as I was.

"No, I haven't. I came to Tir by going through Taillteann." The young boy answered, shaking his head.

"Oh..Well.." Zale started to respond awkwardly before looking forward again. I noticed that he had put a somewhat sympathetic face before he did. I couldn't blame him. At the same time, I became curious as to what did Taillteann looked like.

"Dunbarton isn't a dangerous place than it used to be. When I stopped by there once, I heard stories that every day and night, there would be fights. That was until recently a small organization of fighters banded together to stop the gangs."

I stared at the back of Zale's head blankly, "I don't know if I should be concerned or relieved.."

"Ah, don't worry really. The town is very peaceful now." The young boy and I fell silent after seeing his reassuring grin flashing at us. I always seem to feel at ease whenever he grins like that. The reason I was concerned was the fact he mentioned gangs. Even so, we will never know if gangs still exist around the town. I was bullied enough in the past to know that I'm not that confident in my close combat skills! And I got this new weapon too..I still have no idea how I should use these weapons.

I replied with a sigh, "Well...You learn something new everyday."

"Aren't you happy you're on this adventure though? You might find more memories!"

"I heard you say something earlier about memories...Did you lose them or something?" Oguri asked while giving me a curious look. I was taken off guard to his question, remembering all the times people would ask me that. It resulted to the same weird stares the kid was giving me now.

I frowned solemnly and slightly lowered my head, "Y-Yeah..Since I was eleven."

"I see.."

I glanced up to look at the child, only to see he had turned his head around. What a way to end a rather personal question so awkwardly. In the end, every single one of us was quiet. Seeing how it turned dark, I decided to provide the light for us by an orb of light I formed from the palms of my hands. It allowed us to see the path much clearer. I begin to worry for our endurance, especially how tired Oguri must have been.

I spoke softly, "Zale, we should rest for the night. We can reach Dunbarton tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, you're right. The big tree should be coming up soon." The warrior responded with a yawn.

We soon arrived at the mentioned tree and wasted no time to set up camp. I provided the light with the help of my flame, so it would make things easier for the boys to do the work. As expected, Zale had a tired look and was constantly yawning. It was hard not to have the rest of us yawn. However, when I looked at Oguri..He has a face as if something is ailing him. A complete shadow covered his face. He looked..sad.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey guys, Izeiya here finally bringing you the fourth chapter of _Soulbound Risk: A Tale of Erinn_! I want to say I'm sorry if any of the things in this story doesn't seem like it belongs in Mabinogi. Again, this is really based on the game itself in terms of the names of weapons, the places, SOME clothes, etc. It is just a fan made story of my own, trying to fit in the category itself. I have been having a very long debate whether to keep going, but decided why not. I'll try my best to upload the other chapters whenever I can. I still do play Mabinogi, but if you ever see me, I'm either AFKing or running around, goofing off somewhere. And for those who are wondering who I am, I play in the Alexina server. I'll give you my IGN if you ask. :3

So without further ado...Enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nexon or anything Mabinogi-related. Just my own character designs and other things I'm too lazy to type down what.

:D

* * *

 _ **IV**_

 _ **The Thief Within These Walls**_

The next morning came, initiating the second day of our adventure. The three of us slept inside a small tent. In the middle of our shelter is a campfire with small smoke brewing above it. It was somewhat hard for me to sleep since the two boys were constantly moving around. Of course, I was used to Zale's snoring since I lived with him for the past five years. Oguri, however, was a different story. For a serious child, he was a monster with his loud snoring. It was unexpected. Because of the pair, I barely got any sleep.

I was the first person to wake up by the sounds of birds chirping and the commerce wagons passing by. We set up camp near the road, and surprisingly, we didn't get robbed by bandits. Who would've imagined that they wouldn't attack us? When I exit, my side of the tent was made and I took my cooking utensils with me. I also grabbed a small gathering axe from Zale's bag to start chopping wood for the fire place in the tent. I will need my workers to do it when they wake up. I plan to drop off the firewood in front of the tent, so whoever trips over it will have to help me. I secretly hope it will be Zale.

I sat outside with a tree supporting my back as I looked through a small notebook of recipes. I want to make something small enough to fill us until we reach Dunbarton. The food supply was scarce simply because my bag carrier's space was limited. After a long process of decision making, I chose...eggs and rice. I shut the notebook and shove it in my left sleeve after nodding my head in approval. I pushed myself to my feet to run up to a nearby tree, aside from the one I was leaning against earlier. I summoned up a fair amount of flame energy to the small axe I was wielding. As soon as it started glowing white, I swung the axe forward and a series of rays from the weapon cut down the branches. I let out a heavy sigh before slowly walking up to the small pieces of wood.

"You seriously needed to waste your Flame on that?"

"Ah!" I jumped at the sudden voice behind me, causing me to twirl around completely. "Oguri! Good morning!"

The child maintained his straight face towards me with his hands in his pockets. It almost looked like he was ready to comment my idiocy. I held a forced smile, trying to hide my humiliation.

"Good morning. Do you need help?"

"I uh…" I started speaking nervously, trying to weigh my options of what to say. For one, I didn't want to have the youngest of us three travelers to do the work. However, he did ask…

A sigh of defeat escaped my mouth, "Yeah, I do. I'm going to cook fried eggs and rice for breakfast."

Startling me, Oguri took the axe from my hand and proceeded to walk towards the fallen branches without a word. I reached my hand out for him with a guilty look on my face and my mouth slightly opened as if I wanted to stop him by saying that it was fine. The moment I heard him start chopping wood, I let out a heavy breath of exasperation. I then folded my arms as I waited for him to finish. At this time, I couldn't help but observe the young male. Again, he had that shadow over his eyes. My eyes softened a bit, knowing that my urge to talk to him had finally came over me.

"So...Did you sleep well last night?" I started conversing with a hand grabbing the back of my other arm.

"Slept better than any night, surprisingly."

"Oh! Well...That's good!" I smiled gently, "I'm glad."

Oguri paused his wood gathering to wipe the sweat on his forehead, "How about you?"

"Eh?" I blinked in confusion, "I slept fine~"

For a moment, I could see the child's glance at me before continuing on chopping wood. "Yeah..Well, the bags under your eyes says otherwise."

I fell silent after hearing his response, which was rather blunt and harsh mixed together. The look on my face changed dramatically to a shocked and even a guilty look. Was that even noticeable I was unable to sleep for a long time? Still, I was surprised by this kid. For someone so straightforward and even cold, he has such a hint of a warm trait about him.

Soon, he finished chopping the wood we needed and gave me the axe to hold. Without another word from our mouths, the both of us headed back to camp as Oguri carried the wood. I thanked him again for the help after we managed to have a fire going. He simply nodded in acknowledgement towards me before walking over to the tree to lean on it. Eventually, Zale woke up and joined us just in time for breakfast. The boys chowed it down like wolves, but the only difference was the fact Oguri was eating his food fast and silently. Obviously, the blonde warrior was eating a bit faster. I, for once, shifted my gaze back and forth to the two with a nervous look on my face. It was very awkward knowing I am probably the only sanest person here. After we finished eating, the three of us put down the tent and cleaned everything up before heading back down the path we were on.

True enough I was tired, but I am not going to let that get the best of me on our journey to Dunbarton. The weather was fairly nice and the breeze was especially light. Just like last night, I was behind the two to look out the back flank. Oguri has his hands in his pockets while Zale's head can be seen shifting lightly back and forth to his sides constantly. I narrowed my eyes at the leader of the pack in suspicion. Whenever Zale looks around like that, it usually means that he senses danger near us. He received this ability from escorting merchants, I assumed.

Suddenly, Zale froze in place with his arms out to stop our advance. Oguri, who was startled by this sudden notion, looked up at the dirty blonde.

"What's wrong?"

"Asaya." Zale sternly commanded, ignoring Oguri.

I nodded my head, understanding what was happening. From my weapon pouch mounted at my side, my hands took out the twin chakrams and went to an offensive stance. The weapons are plain silvery steel with three blades spreading out from being inside the chakram itself. From checking on Oguri, I can tell he was utterly confused as to what was going on. I gazed around the surroundings and spotted a rocky terrain on our left side. Zale and I made eye contact as we stepped closer to Oguri in order for us to communicate better. I pointed at the terrain as Zale nodded in acknowledgement.

"You think you can throw your weapon there?"

"Are you crazy? I have no idea how to use this thing!" I argued softly in a hushed voice, taken back at his unbelievable suggestion.

The confused Oguri stared at the both of us, "Can anyone explain what…!?"

The blue flame warrior paused mid-sentence, and the next thing I remember was him screaming at me to watch out. I found myself on the ground with Oguri momentarily getting off of me. I looked to my side and saw a couple arrows stuck on the ground near us. My mouth slightly opened in realization of what had happened before looking at the boys. They had their weapons out, preparing for battle. At that point, I finally noticed that we were completely surrounded by bandits. There are eight of them in total.

"Are you okay, Asaya?" The two simultaneously asked when I stood up to join them.

With my left foot forward, I spread out my arms to have my left chakram beside my head and my right one lowered and forward.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the save, Oguri."

"Yup."

Both parties charged at each other. Zale was taking on three bandits, Oguri was taking on three, and I was against the rest. Managing with the chakrams became much more easier to handle every second I fight. My normal attack consisted of three hits. A single hit with each chakram and then a double slice with both. All I needed is to implement my flame somehow. Hearing a grunt and someone stepping near me, I paused an attack from a bandit before checking swiftly to see who it was.

"I got a plan." Oguri whispered to me. Beside him, Zale stepped closer to us both before nodding his head at the child.

"Ready when you are, Oguri!" The sword and shield wielder spoke while I was the only one not knowing what was going on now. The two were looking at each other as I had parried an attack from a bandit. Soon, the dirty blonde quickly charge towards the opponents in front of him to evade a sword attack and rolled to the other side of them. The youngest was guarding me, making sure no bandits aren't planning to blindside us. It didn't help the fact they were closing in on us like trapped animals. Zale let out a war cry as he released a horizontal visible slash, startling everyone. Oguri gripped my arm to quickly pull me down, avoiding the attack.

"Gale Slash!" The warrior had cried out.

"Gwaaah!"

The bandits flew over us while being pushed by the wind attack. Then, the grip on my arm loosened before the young child got on his feet. He ran around our now grouped opponents. Sliding to position himself directly behind the distraught bandits, Oguri slammed his tonfa on the ground. A series of icicles rose from underneath the group, penetrating and pushing them above ground level. I watched in awe, still sitting on the ground. Zale appeared in the sky, soaring down with his Executioner's Sword to strike the group with a final Gale Slash.

Using my arms to shield my eyes from the dust, I knew at that point the battle was over. Once the dust storm was over, I lowered my arms and looked at the scene ahead of me. The bandits disappeared in a dark smoke, indicating that they were Fomors. Oguri helped me on my feet while Zale put away his weapons.

"That was awesome teamwork there, buddy!" The dirty blonde commented with a goofy grin on his face.

The child silently put his weapons away the same time I did. He didn't seem to change his stoic facial expression through the entire battle. Oguri nodded slightly towards his comrade before looking around as if he was looking for something. I tilted my head in confusion the moment I noticed this.

Zale walked up to me, passing Oguri, "Are you okay, Asaya?"

"Yeah. Of course." I responded with a gentle smile. It faded when I looked at the boy, who had stepped away from us.

"Oguri? Is something wrong?" I finally asked out of worry and curiosity.

With folded arms over his chest, the young man glanced at us, "There is a bandit left."

"What?!" Gasped Zale, who started looking around cautiously.

I warily narrowed my blue eyes at the child as he continued, "Check your things quick. I only counted seven bandits earlier."

Immediately, the three of us started doing just that. My chakram pouch is here, my own personal messenger bag is still around my shoulder, and I have everything basically. However, I couldn't help but think about the kid himself. It's like the more I'm around Oguri, the more I start understanding his personality. He has a keen eye during battle. This time, I opened my bag and looked through everything I remember putting in this bag. Luckily, the food ingredients were still intact. With a heavy sigh of relief, I closed the bag and looked up at the duo.

"I have everything." I informed them with a hand on my hip.

"Same." Oguri responded with a nod.

We turned to Zale as he had a somewhat frantic look, looking through his backpack. I could even feel his anxiety from the way he was rummaging through his bag like crazy. Worried for him, I took a couple steps toward him.

"Is everything okay?" The young child asked before I could even say anything.

"The thief stole my necklace!"

A necklace? I thought, repeating in my head. I don't recall him owning one or any necklaces. It must be new.

"I don't remember you having a necklace before, Zale." I spoke in confusion.

He sighed, putting on a very depressed look. I pursed my lips silently, knowing the last time I saw this sullen Zale was when his parents passed away. I was speechless, trying to find the words to say. Before I knew it, Zale started walking the direction we were heading to. Oguri and I gave each other a surprised look before the boy followed the warrior,

"Let's hurry to Dunbarton. The person probably headed there." I heard Zale saying the moment I started following the boys.

His tone was filled with anger and impatience. Quite different than when he showed that solemn look to us.

The boy looked up at the dirty blonde, "And what if they didn't?"

"Then, I will hunt him down myself."

We soon reached Dunbarton an hour or so later. The path we walked on had trees planted out at each side until we reached a wide dirt plain of farm life. There were hens running around with foxes sleeping around. Potato fields covered each left and right side of us. And soon in front of us was a wide opening entrance to the town. Dunbarton is literally a large square, surrounded by a stone wall with three exits. They are the northern entrance, west entrance, and a southeast entrance. We were arriving through the northern gate. Besides the opening on the left side was the trading post. That, along with trading posts, is simply where merchants go to to sell, trade, or buy things from.

"Wow, this place is huge." Oguri murmured in awe. "Tara may be larger, but I never been in a city as crowded as it."

I smiled at the child's reaction, "Welcome to Dunbarton."

Zale would have said if he wasn't so...melancholic at the moment. This guy hasn't said a single word the entire walk from the bandit encounter. That necklace must have been very special to him. The three of us entered the bustling town, passing through people on a stone pathway. Just like Zale had said, the town wasn't emitting a single dangerous vibe in the area. Oguri's shoulders eased to release the tension that he had felt from rumors. We then entered the square of the city where people were either hanging around or browsing through the mini shops people had set up. Zale stopped walking, causing the both of us to stop as well in confusion.

"Alright.." He finally spoke before turning around to face us with a rather stern look. "How about we split up? We can find someone with a flame easier that way and -"

I cleared my throat to interrupt him before holding up a hand to gesture that he should stop talking.

"Wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Zale, finding someone with a flame is harder than you think. You can't expect them to appear out of nowhere and say 'HEY, I HAVE A FLAME. LOOK AT ME!'" I flailed my arms around like a bird before placing my hands on my hips, swinging back and forth side to side. "We're in a new town, and we can't afford to have people think we're bad guys or something.."

"Too late for that…" Oguri commented immediately. Zale put on a dumbfounded look before glancing around us. He was right. I caught a glimpse of residents looking to our general direction. Still swinging back and forth, my eyes fell on the man I was reasoning with as my frown deepening.

"We have to be careful, and splitting up will only make us more vulnerable as potential targets."

"I have to agree with her, Zale. I also don't want any more of our things to be stolen," added Oguri with a nod.

A moment of silence filled the air around the three of us. Finally, Zale scratched the back of his head sheepishly for he understood Oguri's concern. I was surprised at him myself. The kid really does have a soft spot.

The warrior sighed in defeat, "Okay, you guys win."

I put on a smirk as I already knew I was going to be able to reason with him.

He then started laughing softly, "I remember how meek you were back then. Now, you keep moving forward..."

I pursed my lips and stared at him deeply. He suddenly brought that up, which was rather unusual. The way he had spoken too was filled with a very familiar nostalgic sadness that was probably triggered by a memory of his past. Although, he was right. I haven't realized it: I have changed.

Just then, a scream from the crowd near us gained our immediate attention.

"Thief! Get him!"

"He took my sword!"

With haste, the three of us ran to the two voices of the victims. It was a young female and male, who were the ones that got attacked. They looked to be around Oguri's age...Maybe older. A frantic crowd formed around the two as there were muttering their comments to themselves or to others. Going through the thick crowd, we arrived at the front to get a closer view and saw a young woman comforting the two victims. Two men stood beside her with a long scroll in their hands.

"What's going on..?" I murmured in confusion. For some reason, that young woman has a very familiar aura.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Introducing the fifth chapter! I don't own Arc Liners first of all because the group itself belongs to a good friend of mine. Don't worry, I asked for permission. I used to be a part of the Arc Liners myself when it was still active. We were a band of friends who get together and RP, having really fun adventures that I can never forget about. It was a small group, but eventually, we went our own way due to reasons. I like to RP myself once in a while, and you know what? I'll just share my IGN, just so I can get notes about how horrible this story is in game. (Knowing the Mabi community and everything..Whatever. lol jk..maybe...) I am Izanmi from the Alexina server. Feel free to add me! Asaya Hirotomi is an OC based off of me. Zale Everglade is an OC based off of my boyfriend/husband in game who is Zealo. Oguri is actually an OC of my own. The new coming character by the name of Katana Hirasoul is an OC of my real life friend who doesn't play mabi, but I tend to put her in my stories sometimes. It's become a habit from knowing her since high school. She also puts me in her comics, so I guess it's even. Her DA account is Kitty-Kirishima. Look at her art; They are AMAZING. Sooo without further ado..Enjoy the chapter. Review/Favorite/Follow to her liking. I'm not forcing ya. I'm just writing this for fun xD

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Nexon or Mabinogi related. Just the characters that are OC by character to me.

:)

* * *

 **V**

 _ **The Run Down**_

Oguri, Zale, and I stood in the front lines of this rather huge crowd. The look on everyone's face was filled with distress and worry. One of their fellow residents were robbed from their shop. It almost seems like this alone was just a wakeup call to themselves. I stared from afar with a concerned look planted on my face. Zale had this look of silent rage glaring at the scene as Oguri simply narrowed his eyes in silence. His usual frown grew deeper as his arms folded tightly on his chest. People started mumbling words, concerning the incident before us.

I then saw a quick glimpse of the young woman looking back at the crowd before pushing herself on her feet. She was a young woman with light brown hair and dark purple eyes. Her side bangs were swayed to the right side with the same length as my own side bangs. The rest of her hair is literally shoulder length and layered. She looked to be around my age, yet is slightly taller than me. On her right upper forearm is a dark blue bandage. She wears a full size dark brown coat with a white hood and a yellow turtleneck. Two black strings can be seen underneath the hood on both the left and right side. Adorning the middle of the coat is a somewhat metallic gray belt that doesn't connect the front, rather the back. On both of her wrists are the same color metallic gray medium-sized bracelets where one can see a visible black button. Underneath the coat and under the V shaped turtleneck part is a pure white shirt with a single yellow line printed vertically. It stops right at the middle of a red mini skirt, where underneath it is a yellow stretch shorts. A black line verifies the stretch for it is around the leg rather tight. On the bottom edge of the coat surrounding it is a gold ring with flower-shaped leaves popping from every corner. For boots, she wears a pure red long high heeled boots where the right one was shorter than the one on the left. They both have rolled up leather on the top edge and a metal buckle strap bearing the similar color as the bracelets and her belt.

Facing the crowd at our general direction, the girl put her hands strictly on her hips and gave everyone a stern look. "May I ask everyone to not stare at this and go on your merry way? We, the Arc Liners, have this under control."

With that said, everyone but us did what was told. I observed the crowd's reaction only to realize what was said held a positive impact. They now look relieved and happy. The brown haired girl returned to chatting with the victim after crouching near the two.

"Arc Liners?" Oguri questioned in confusion.

Zale folded his arms, "That's the name of the organization I mentioned."

"So, those three are a part of the Arc Liners…" I softly gasped out in astonishment.

While the three of us stayed a good distance away from the small group, the attention on us from earlier also disappeared. Now, I feel relieved because I dislike unnecessary attention. We are not bad guys. We are merely travelers trying to do what we must do. It wasn't long until we were finally noticed by the Arc Liners. The young woman stood up as I can now see that the victims didn't look as bad than before. She must have effectively calmed them down. I'm impressed and even grateful. Her purple eyes opened in astonishment before narrowing it at us as if we did something we weren't supposed to do. With a dismissive wave to her peers, the other two Arc Liners nodded their heads and walked away with the victims. The girl approached us to our surprise as I was ready to turn on my heels to walk away. But by the look on her face, it seemed as if we weren't in any trouble. Rather, it was expecting to her, it seems.

"Is your name Zale Everglade, by any chance?" She asked the right person with a stoic look.

The warrior hesitated to answer, "Y-Yes. Do I know you?"

I couldn't blame Zale for being so confused and may be a bit afraid. Oguri and I stayed silent for we were observing the conversation that is soon to take place.

"Merchants here talk about you sometimes. Their description is pretty spot on, I admit."

"R-Really?" I raised a brow at the flustered Zale, feeling somewhat proud to know merchants had been talking about him. I doubt they would say something bad though. I know Zale treats his clients fair and exceptionally well, considering he was the top student in his class.

The unknown woman nodded his head as a gentle smile planted on her face. Her hand rose in front of her to offer a handshake, "My name is Katana Hirasoul. If you don't mind, I would like your help with something."

"Uh, sure." The male answered while shaking her hand, "What's the problem?"

Oguri moved over to me to whisper quietly, "Are you sure we have the time for this, you think?"

I stayed silent, thinking now that he had mentioned it. It's true we are supposed to be searching for the other chosen flame fighter, but after witnessing what happened, I honestly couldn't stand by and wait for the problem to solve itself. Not only that, Zale had lost something important to him. No, rather it was something he couldn't live without. Finally, as I reached my verdict, I nodded my head as a silent answer to the young child. As expected, Oguri let out a heavy sigh with a simple low 'Fine' escaped his mouth.

"Is it alright with you two?" Katana suddenly asked us, interrupting our short side conversation.

Nodding my head, I folded my arms and gave a stoic look. "Fine by me."

"I'm following them, so yeah.." Oguri vaguely answered.

With a slight smile, Katana turned around and walked away, "Okay, I'll show you the local inn and let you in on what I need help with along the way."

"Gotcha."  
"M'kay."

Zale and I simultaneously replied as Oguri stayed quiet. We followed Katana to a building that wasn't too far from where we were before.

"And before I start, sorry to Zale's friends for kind of...ignoring you. That was rude of me. What's your name?"

I smiled in amusement at the flustered Katana, who was rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. From first impression, she is someone who scares me due to her authority and leadership trait of her personality like what she pulled earlier. It relieves me to know she has a somewhat of a cute side as well. I had to admit, it was really rude of her to simply ignore those around the one she was greeting. I only let it slide because of the scene earlier.

"I forgive you, don't worry." I answered first. "I'm Asaya Hirotomi."

"Oguri Kisaragi."

For a moment, I saw Katana looking back to stare at the youngest of us with a look of mockery. "Not talkative, are you?"

"..."

The girl laughed half-heartedly, "Cute." Oguri being a grumpykin is considered cute?

"Anyway….Asaya, huh? That's another name merchants would mention too. They described you as a short, kind, and busty.."

"Excuse me!?" I suddenly cried out in a high-pitched tone, not believing that one would add that last part to my description. For the first time, Zale started to laugh probably because of my face and her words. Now that I think about it, merchants would usually hit on me big time. Luckily, Zale would stop them before it gets a little overboard. Unlike Oguri, I didn't hear the mocking tone from Katana. Instead, I heard a tone of disgust. She must have felt embarrassed for me, which I don't blame her.

The brown haired girl cleared her throat. "Sorry, got off topic. I'll go straight to the point..."

Katana paused to collect her thoughts. A serious look now appeared on her face before looking forward, "There is a new bandit terrorizing merchants. We confirmed that some residents are working with them to steal things and even mess around the economy. What you all saw earlier was a work of the organization. At this point, we need all the help we can get to gather more clues and information to find out who this bandit is. I can't do much about this problem since my job is to watch the town overnight."

"How long ago did this started happening?" I asked with a finger curling my bottom lip. My normal thinking habit.

"A week and a half ago. The signs were very subtle, so possibly longer."

Silence started to fill the air as if that simple piece of information was enough to knock the air out of us. One of the main reasons is because of the duration of the bandit's appearance. At this point, they probably stole a large amount of items. The sword and Zale's necklace was added to the collection. We had to stop our confidential conversation for we were entering the inn of Dunbarton. It is a building on top of a small staircase with double wooden doors. Right next to the inn, I noticed there is a small booth of some sort with a rather tall blonde woman working there. The inside of the inn looked similar to the one in Tir, but larger. Instead of one large staircase leading to the rooms, there are two running up to the second floor at the sides. Behind the counter stood two people, which one serves as the receptionist and the other as the helper. In the lobby where we are standing, many people gathered in groups just chatting and enjoying themselves. It was different than those outside who are feeling paranoid after the theft incident. Katana helped us set a room for the time being and under the payment of Katana herself. I bet this is her way of paying us back and involving us involuntarily.

"I have you three booked for a week. It was all I can afford."

"Well, you didn't have to pay...But, thank you."

Katana and Zale conversed in front of Oguri and I, who were being observant to the conversation. We started walking through the second floor hallway of the inn rooms after going through a very long wait to get ourselves booked in. It was rather ridiculous even.

"Can we really stay here for a week?" Oguri asked in a somewhat whining tone.

I glanced at him for a short moment. He was becoming impatient. Both Katana and Zale paused after hearing his complaint. An awkward silence took place, and is almost enough to say that the ice warrior shouldn't have asked such thing.

Soon, Zale shrugged carelessly before looking forward, "I'm not leaving this town until I get my necklace back."

"Did you encountered them?" asked a curious Katana.

I nodded my head, "On our way here from Tir."

"I see...Well, this is when we'll part ways. " We stopped in front of the door that has the number 26 in golden letters on it. "Tonight at 6, there will be an Arc Liner meeting at the unicorn statue. I'll extend the invitation to you three since you're temporarily a part of the search."

My eyes wandered around to find the nearest clock. A meeting with the Arc Liners started to make me feel very anxious. Katana informed us in a somewhat rush manner probably because she needed to do her duties, which I fully understand. I found the clock just hanging on the opposite wall from us. The time now is almost two in the afternoon, meaning four more hours until the meeting.

"Unicorn statue?" Questioned the dirty blonde.

The brunette nodded her head, "You'll know when you see it, trust me."

She then waved her farewell to us before walking back to where we came from. Zale and I responded with a simple 'Thank you' as Oguri was being silent as ever. We unlocked the door, entered our inn room and dropped our jaw at the really spacious room. It was similar to the inn rooms back in Tir Chonaill, except there are two couches and one bed. There's the mini kitchen and dining room corner of the inn room as well. The bathroom is located at the same spot too beside the bed. The inn room Zale and I stayed at was more cramped because our personal belongings were there. The boys immediately chose me to take the bed, which took me off guard since I had no time to react. I honestly didn't mind sleeping on the couch. I really don't like getting the special treatment because I was a girl. However, I decided to let it go despite constantly grumbling at their persistence. Oguri helped me arrange the food we brought, deciding what to throw away due to expiration and what to keep. I gave Zale the errand of getting ingredients for dinner after the meeting.

A few hours went by, there was forty-five minutes left before the meeting. Zale and I took a rather long nap after we finished settling in the inn room. Oguri took his time scouting the city while we were out. The boy was the one who woke us up as fast as he could after seeing people stand by the meeting place.

"Thanks for waking us up, Oguri." Zale said to the boy while casually stretching his arms out above his head.

We exited the building as the dimmed lights brightly shine the dark lit town. At this time, the darkness covered the land. It somewhat makes me wonder why they would assign a meeting at this hour.

I yawned softly, "Yeah, Thanks...Did you find the statue?"

"Yeah. I also talked to the residents about the Arc Liners and this city in general...I got curious."

I raised my brows at the young boy, "Really? Anything interesting?"

"The Arc Liners are a bunch of intimidating weirdos.." Oguri deadpanned with an unfazed facial expression.

Zale and I glanced at the boy silently. I, for one, somewhat expected those words from him. However, it made me curious as to why he thinks that. But, my question will soon be answered. Coming into our sights was a spacious area with people idling there. They seemed to be conversing with each other until their eyes fell on us when we approached them.

"Hey there!" Greeted Zale happily, waving at them.

"You must be Katana's friends! Welcome!"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Helloooooo~! Everyone! Sorry for the long update on this story. I've been writing a Tales of Xillia fanfic, and that kind of gained most of my attention. I quit Mabinogi three or four months ago, so I haven't gotten the drive to update this story on the website for so long. I actually didn't want to update because I'm trying to forget about the game until one of my friends asked me about this story. Apparently, he was reading and actually waiting and it motivated me to say 'screw it' and upload for his and maybe other peoples' sake who are reading this. I just want to say sorry if this applies to you and I will try my best to upload whatever I have available for my readers.**

 **So as always.. I do not own Mabinogi, Devcat. or Nexon. I simply own my own plot and OCs.**

 **Hope you enjoy! Bai bai.**

 **:)**

* * *

 _ **VI**_

 _ **The Arc Liners**_

The friendly Arc Liner who welcomed us is a young female with brown shoulder length hair and emerald eyes. She looked to be younger than Zale and I, yet older than Oguri. Much like her bright personality, her dress consists of the colors orange and yellow. It is a really cute flowy dress that ended to the middle of her upper thighs, swaying to the side slanted. It is a three layered turtleneck dress that is as bright as a sunflower with a light orange scarf around her waist with two yellow ribbons and dark orange rose accessories pinned on the scarf. A dark orange rose necklace came with the dress as her left arm had a metallic yellow armband with a part of her light orange clothing underneath it. On the same side, a leg band of yellow and light orange wrapped around her left upper leg. Her shoes are bright orange, plain slip on slippers with a yellow ankle band that has the same dark orange rose.

The other two members looked as friendly as this one was being. One is an elf with light blue icy hair with dark blue eyes. She has a purple insignia under her left eye. She had to be the youngest out of the three by how short she is. No doubt in my mind that she is about Oguri's age due to her height compared to mine. Her hair has a white hairband, pulling back her left bangs behind her ear. The right side clearly showed her side bangs. She seemed to be blushing and averting her attention away from us meekly as I found it somewhat cute. I tried trailing her eye contact, which apparently led me to the young boy standing next to me.

A smirk then formed after realizing what was already happening before coughing to bring me back to my calm demeanor.

"I'm Senna Merroi. This is Kaza Lancaster," The brown haired girl gestured her hand to a dark gray haired male with golden eyes. "And this is Eve Lamia."

The both of them bowed respectively during the introduction. Senna bluntly placed her hands on her hips, giving us a bright smile.

"The other three isn't here yet, so we're gonna have to wait a bit~!"

I was surprised. I knew Katana wasn't here yet, but there were two more? Zale eased his shoulders in light disappointment, "Oh man..Well, I don't mind waiting." He then perked up with a smile, "I'm Zale Everglade!"

"Asaya Hirotomi."

"..." Oguri refused to answer as he had his arms folded, avoiding eye contact. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, so I decided to give him a quick nudge on his arm.

The boy sighed in defeat, "I'm Oguri Kisaragi."

"I saw that, you jerk! I don't appreciate your greeting!" Senna profusely yelled, aiming a kick towards the boy's head.

However, the flame warrior immediately reacted by raising his arms to block the attack and even froze the girl's leg. This startled practically everyone watching as the nonchalant boy gently pushed the leg away, forcing her to land on the ground.

"I-Ice?!" Both Kaza and Senna screamed in astonishment.

My first reaction is to look around us to see if anyone else had witnessed Oguri's flame power. Luckily, there wasn't. Zale proceeded to look guilty as much as I was as well. I didn't realize the warrior would go this far. The ice on her leg was unbreakable almost as if he had done a skill to freeze it for hopefully a certain amount of time. The group closed in on the fallen Senna, who was glaring at the kid and attempting to stand up.

"Geez, we're late for a couple minutes and my sister is already causing trouble for the guests?" We turned around at the sound of a new voice approaching the crowd behind us. There was Katana and two new people, following after the one who had spoken.

Just like Senna, the brother had emerald eyes and brown short hair with a single strand of hair sticking out on the front. He seemed to be a couple inches taller than Zale. Then, there was a much taller guy who caught my attention. I immediately recognized him as a Giant. He was probably one of the first few Giants I've ever encountered. He had a black spiky wolf cut and bright magenta eyes, wearing a simple gray robe with a blue scarf.

"Shut up, Damian! He started it!" The younger sibling retorted defensively, ignoring the ice on her leg shattering to pieces.

Katana sighed heavily at the child before looking at the three, "Sorry for making you all wait. I had to help find Kino."

The giant silently waved the moment he was mentioned. Oguri was right about the weirdos part that it was to the point Katana is probably the sanest one at the moment. Damian approached his sister to help her stand before pulling her away from the three of us in case she decided to attack the poor kid again. By the look on his face, the ice warrior didn't seem fazed at all. I place my left hand on my hip, staring down at the boy with a disappointed look. "You should apologize to her."

"Why? She attacked me. She should be the one apologizing to me."

Senna growled at his response, "You little…"

"Hey, hey! Everyone, calm down! We need to get this started before we get ourselves any more sidetracked." Damian spoke, gaining the attention from all of us. Judging by the atmosphere after this man's speech, I am willing to bet he is the leader of the Arc Liners. He then glanced over at Eve, who noticed him on cue before she meekly nodded her head.

Putting her hands together in front of her like she was praying, Eve started chanting a spell of some sort. It was spoken in another language, yet for some reason, I can understand it. While chanting the words, 'Open for us, open the door', a barrier surrounded all of us and the unicorn statue started to sink down to the ground. A set of stairs was seen then as Eve stopped chanting to join the Arc Liners who already made their way down the stairway.

"That was awesome! What was that!?" Zale exclaimed, following them.

I stayed standing, staring at the stairs in distraught. For a moment, I felt like I had recognized the language and this spell. Oguri stared at me in confusion, noticing I wasn't budging before he took my wrist and dragged me down the path. I could hear the unicorn statue moving back to its original position as the barrier dissipated around us.

"Eve is our support, so she volunteered to do this barrier spell of hers to lock our secret base." Kaza explained, patting the blue haired elf on her shoulder. She was panting out of exhaustion already? I, from afar, observed the younger girl carefully. Her outfit consisted of purple, blue, white. and dark gray on the metal parts. It looked to be a light armor she's wearing. On her back, I could see a white hood with a dark gray metallic rim around it. She had a white scarf around her neck, covering the dark gray metallic breast plate underneath two long teardrop looking flaps that is purple with white outlining. Underneath the breast plate was a purple lower vest with the same purple and white outlining. In the middle of that was a white spiral looking belt with a hanging charm in the middle of the belt. Her main dress layer is dark blue with a purple skirt, showing a metallic and bronze plate on the bottom. Her arms are then covered by attached sleeves with dark blue rolled up on the top, a purple layer, and finally a white and blue one.

"Isn't that….a kind of forbidden spell or type of magic…?" Oguri awkwardly asked, almost like he was trying to cover up something. The tone of his voice said it all.

Katana shook her head, "Nah. It's her own magic. I know what type of magic you're talking about, though."

She sounded upset, and even looked upset when she looked back at us, "That magic is dead and lost."

Oguri pursed his lips, glaring at the brunette. We ended up stopping in front of a large room with a medium-sized table in the middle and a couple of sofa chairs placed around it. It could be described as a mini version of a living room except there wasn't a TV. The room was well lit by a single tall lamp post. I didn't realize until now that the boy had stopped pulling me.

"Alright everyone, let's make ourselves comfortable and start this meeting!" The Arc Liners leader cheerfully cried out as we decided our place.

Eve and Kaza sat on one of the long sofas beside the table, Katana was leaning against the wall behind them, Damian sat on a solo sofa chair with his sister sitting on the other side from the table, Kino silently stood like a bodyguard behind the leader, and the trio I was a part of sat on the long sofa couch the other side of the elf and the gray-haired Arc Liners. Those two seems to always be together. Well, I'm not one to talk. I'm always with Zale.

I awkwardly sat between the two boys, still observing everyone unfamiliar around me. Damian got himself comfy before giving his attention to the others.

"I'll make this short and sweet for everyone. We all know about a bandit attacking merchants and how residents are possibly working for the suspect. As of right now, we'll need all the help we can get."

The leader spoke before gesturing a hand towards Zale, Oguri, and I. "Katana invited these guys to join us temporarily. And you can tell already...They can use Flames like Katana."

"What?!" I exclaimed in astonishment, staring at the calm girl who was waving.

"No way!" Zale cried out in unison.

Oguri remained silent, narrowing his eyes at the mentioned Arc Liner. The younger sister of the leader smirked, "That explains the ice."

Anyone could still hear the malice in Senna's voice as she coldly glared at the blue flame warrior. I tried my best to ignore it, and the majority of the people in the room was trying so hard to not acknowledge her hatred for Oguri at the moment. There are times when I use my flame whenever I accompany Zale while escorting bandits. Katana, the one who probably knows everything of Dunbarton in terms of rumors, must have already known about our powers from the moment she heard of us. Not to mention earlier when she had witnessed Oguri using his Flame to defend against Senna.

"So, what exactly do you want us to do?" Zale questioned, folding his arms and leaning forward.

"We separated ourselves to two teams for both night and day. Katana, Eve, and Kaza are the night team. Senna, Kino, and I are the day team. We can cover Dunbarton that way. But then we came to a conclusion…We also need to observe the coming and leaving merchants."

"That's where we come in?" I added, only to receive a nod from Damian.

It would make sense they decide to ask us for help now. Zale and I have experience on escorting merchants.

"For now on, this is what we'll do. Asaya and Zale, you two will be with Katana and I to observe the merchants day AND night. Is that okay with you three?"

The three of us nodded our heads in agreement before the leader's emerald eyes shifted to the others. "Eve and Kaza, you'll both be scouting night again with us."

He then looked at his sister with a sympathetic smile, "Sorry, sis. I'm putting you with Kino and Oguri for the day scouting team."

"I WILL PAIR UP WITH ANYONE ELSE, BUT HIM!" Senna immediately screamed in rage, slamming a hand on the table in front of her.

Oguri nonchalantly raised a hand, giving a blank stare to the Arc Liners leader. "I'm okay with this."

"Oh, you little sh-" Senna growled at the young boy before the Giant covered the brunette's mouth.

I stared at Oguri for a brief moment, curious how he was dealing with this. To my surprise, he seemed to be smirking in amusement. The boy found this entertaining? Well, in a way, I can see why. While the underground room was filled with small laughter and Senna's muffling attempts to talk, it somewhat makes me smile to feel the warm atmosphere between this small group. Maybe it really was a good idea to go on this journey, despite the situation being rather serious.

Damian stood up proudly with his fists on his sides, "Alright, it's settled! The new plan will start tomorrow!"

"Wait, what about tonight?" Kaza questioned, raising his hand for attention.

After clearing her throat, Katana pushed herself off the wall and took a step forward towards her captain. "Damian, if it's alright with you, I would like to do night duty with his friends for tonight."

Everyone else in the room fell silent, including the Arc Liners leader. I looked at the rather stoic female cautiously. A moment later, the man finally sighed and nodded his head. "I wanted you to rest after today, but that's fine. Don't push yourself, Katana."

I blink dumbfounded, noting the disappointment in his voice. We caught a glimpse of the purple-eyed girl giving us a flash of a somewhat forced smile. After the meeting, we all went our separate ways. Some of the Arc Liners stayed at the base for the night. The others left as Katana, Oguri, Zale, and I were the only ones standing in front of the unicorn statue.

As for me, my curious eyes are staring at the statue for I remembered the spell Eve had done earlier. There is no doubt in my mind that I know the language and the spell.

"I'll try to make this short, so follow me." Katana spoke before walking away. Oguri had placed his hand on my shoulder to gain my attention. I only laughed awkwardly at the young boy, despite his ruthless gray eyes just staring at me like I was an idiot. Afterwards, the both of us followed the duo who were already walking towards the west gate.

The apparent new Flame warrior led us to a clear plain just outside the gate. We could still see a huge opening where we ended up idling on. It almost seemed like the girl was thinking what to say before turning around to finally look at us face to face.

"Asaya...I would like to have a fight with you."

I blink dumbfounded by her request. Everyone else widened their eyes in shock, looking at her before me.

"Wh-What…?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello~ everyone! Welcome to the seventh chapter of Soulbound Risk: A Tale of Erinn! Sorry again it is taking me a very long time to update chapters. Lately, I've been losing motivation to write. It's difficult. I would pick up a pen and write a few sentences, but that's about it. Editing chapters online have become tedious to me.**

 **I will try my best even if it will take me weeks or months!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Mabinogi, Nexon, Devcat, or those stuff. I only own my OCs, my friends own their OCs, and everyone own their OCs! LOL**

 **Enjoy. :)**

* * *

 _ **VII**_

 _ **Light Doesn't Always Prevail All**_

Last night, I had a request. It was a request that indeed was short in Katana's words. The motive behind it was entirely unknown. However, it showed a side of the brunette I never thought I'd seen in anyone. I groaned as I rolled over to the side, opening my eyes slowly. Observing from the bed I found myself resting on, I immediately could tell that Oguri and Zale had already left me behind to do their part in the Arc Liners plan. For some reason, I didn't have the motivation to get up and find them. It was hard to after finding out that Katana is hurting somewhere deep inside.

" _Wh-what..?" I muttered in disbelief as the girl revealed her weapon by pressing a button on both of her bracelets. Each of them then turned into red and brown knuckles with gray claws sticking out. The hand guard was metallic red while the claws were brown, yet it looks rather piercing._

" _Hold on." The blue flame holder stepped forward, along with Zale._

" _What's the big idea?" The other male added sternly._

 _The silent Katana closed her eyes solemnly and let out a sigh, "No hard feelings, but...You remind me of someone and -"_

" _So, you want to take it out on me, is that it?" I immediately interrupted her, now narrowing my eyes in annoyance. At that point, I could tell by her voice that whoever this person was did something horrible to her. It still doesn't give her a reason to fight me. It seems like her mind has made up from the very beginning._

 _Finally, Katana opened her eyes before shifting herself to an offensive stance. "That's not it! Okay..J-Just think of this as a test then! Let's go!"_

 _I gasped, surprised by her extremely fast speed. She hurled her left arm back, clutching her hand to a fist as she sprinted towards us. I panicked then, realizing that all three of us will be within her attack radius. I need to retaliate fast before she hits, and what took me by surprise was that she looked like she was willing to barge by the boys just to hit me. Focusing all of my attention on my opponent, I decided to take Zale's Executioner Sword from its sheath and stepped forward to have it point at Katana. A barrier surrounded the boys and I as the sword started glowing bright white._

" _My sword!" Zale cried out the moment the brown haired female landed a punch on my barrier. I then saw something sparkling on her hand guard almost like a fire spark. Upon this realization, I slightly opened my mouth in astonishment and fear._

" _Move away, you two!" I warned them frantically just before a large explosion blasted the barrier into pieces._

 _Luckily, the boys had moved away to avoid the attack like I told them to. Unfortunately, I took all the damage. I was left being pushed back by the force to land on the grass rolling until I struggled to use the sword to stop myself by stabbing the ground. I heard the boys yelling out my name in concern as I shifted myself to a crouching position._

" _Don't break my sword!" The green flame bearer cried out, which I angrily ignored and caught a glimpse of Katana running towards me with her still fast speed._

 _My teeth grinded in anger, watching as my opponent aimed yet another punch at me. A few seconds of intentional hesitation, I picked up the sword to let it block the attack. I then witness Katana move her other fist to make an attempt to blindside me. The moment I saw this, I stood up quickly and jumped on the lower girl's fist to give me a boost to the air._

 _Katana then punched the ground to cause a flame pillar sprout from below my position, "Not getting away that easily!"_

 _Startled, I opened my eyes at this unexpected power and the heat emitting from underneath me. I concentrated on leaping forward like a frog to avoid the fire, but it ended up burning my hair a tad bit._

 _I started to panic, "Ah, shit!"_

 _While I was frantically trying to make the fire go away by flailing in midair, Katana had successfully managed to land a hit on me. The force made the fire vanish, pushing me to the ground to wither in pain._

" _It's over, Asa- Wh-what?" Around the girl's ankle was a shiny rope from the ground. I smirked at the frantic purple eyed female, picking myself from the ground, and walked towards Zale's sword to pick it up._

" _I win." I smiled innocently with a hand on my hip._

 _When I turned to look at Katana, my smile immediately faded upon seeing the total look of devastation and rage on her face. It was rather scary looking, which made it scarier to understand that that look was solely meant for me. She gritted her teeth, managing to release herself from my bind move. Her facial expression was enough to freeze my entire body due to how intense it looked. I tried my best to block every rage-filled attack from the girl with the sword. She would land a successful hit here and there. Her desperate attacks and unnecessary cries of rage made me not want to fight back. In the end, Zale and Oguri had to interfere to cease the match._

Judging by the attacks of the Arc Liner, I deducted that Katana is a red flame holder. She may be the one we are looking for. Something seems different though about her that I just can't really point out what. I knew the moment I saw her, she looked familiar. That's why right now I'm lying in bed and don't have the right mind to force myself up. My head was filled with thoughts and endless possibilities. What if my memories involve her? Not only that, how will I face her again? I finally sat up, observing myself to make sure I don't have any serious battle wounds. I didn't use my own weapons sadly last night because Zale's weapon just so happened to be the closest thing. I wanted to protect them than myself.

I slowly placed my hand on my forehead, "My head hurts..."

A part of me wanted to know how the search was going. I stared at the clock to see that it is roughly past noon. It has been only a few days since we left Tir Chonail. This journey has only begun. Like Zale, who had lost his precious necklace, I came upon a fork in the road. The only difference is that Zale knows exactly what to do because it's simple. All he has to do in this situation is to find it. I don't know how to approach Katana. It's obvious something is ailing her. I'm afraid she would fight or attack me again.

Snapping myself back to reality, a door opened to the room as I looked to see that it was no one other than the Arc Liners leader.

"Damian?" I muttered silently in confusion.

"Yo." He took a chair to sit at the bedside before giving me a concerned look. "I heard what happened from Zale. Are you okay?"

I nodded my head, "Physically, yes. Mentally and emotionally, no."

The brunette smiled in reassurance after laughing a bit, "Don't worry about Katana. I told her to take it easy, but I didn't realize she would go this far. She actually feels bad, especially after hearing that you lost your memories from Zale."

"Do I know her or something?" I questioned finally. It was the first thing that popped into my mind before the overthinking happened.

The leader shook his head and frowned, "No. It's just something from her past." He then shrugged and smiled lightly, "It's not my place to tell such things."

I smiled back at him sheepishly, "Right..."

An awkward silence brewed in the inn room. I myself couldn't stop comparing Damian to a certain someone right now. If it wasn't for the fact the dirty blonde had been acting weird ever since his necklace was stolen, he probably would be here to check on me like Damian is right now. I hate to admit it, but I know how much that necklace is important to him now.

I lied back down, surprising Damian, and closed my eyes to rest, "Did you guys find any progress today?"

"There was another theft incident in Dunbarton square. We tried following the burglar, but we lost sight of him. It's weird because where we last saw him seems to be common in merchant ambushes. Oguri, Kino, and my sister are currently searching the area."

"I take it it's outside the walls?"

"Northwest."

"By any chance…" I opened my eyes to stare at Damian carefully. "Did you see or hear what they stole?"

"I think it was a sword. The thieves have been stealing them lately."

Silently, I observed the leader shifting his head to the side in confusion. Although it was startling to know that the bandits have been stealing those items, I still kept a stoic look. What are the bandits trying to accomplish? Residents are even joining the fray with these burglaries. After a few moments of thinking to myself, I realized Damian had been staring at me as if he was expecting an answer. I sighed heavily after noticing him and slowly brought my blanket to cover my mouth.

"I'll let you rest, sorry. Don't force yourself to come to tonight's scouting party, okay?" Damian then stood up with an apologetic smile.

I hesitated to answer while opening my mouth to slowly close it again. I was trying my best to not think about that match last night. I've only met Katana once, yet this urge to confront her is strong.

"No, don't worry about me. I'll come."

Damian left the room with a smile on his face. I really did appreciate him for coming to check on a stranger like myself. I started thinking about Zale and Oguri. Finding out that Oguri was out doing his part made me curious as to what Zale could be doing. I sighed and decided to stop being lazy by pushing the blankets to the side before getting up. Most of my battle wounds were healed after all. I think walking it off is a good idea right now. Grabbing my purple sleeves and boots to slip them on, I struggled to ignore the pain time to time. Katana made me realize something in that fight last night...I really need to train more efficiently with these chakrams and know more about this world in general.

I grabbed my weapon pouch, mounting it beside me, and exit the inn room. I honestly didn't know where to go, so I ended up thinking that I could just walk around in hopes that I'd run into someone I know. Besides, I wanted to walk around and observe this town more clearly. When I left the inn, I took a moment to do that. For some reason, it was more crowded than before. It probably was because of the time of day and possibly the anticipating doom slowly falling on this city. Though, the merchants seem more cautious than ever, and I don't blame them. After a moment of thinking, I decided to head to the Arc Liners base. Just remembering the elf Arc Liner opening the door still makes me ponder how in the world did her magic looked so familiar. With my head lowering solemnly, I soon arrived to the unicorn statue and immediately saw three recognizable people: Zale, Damian, and Kino. The first one to notice me was the Arc Liners leader, who gasped in astonishment at the sight of me and started stomping towards me.

"It's too early. You should be resting now!"

Zale turned around afterwards with a startled look, "Asaya! How are you feeling?"

I don't know whether to be upset or happy towards the one person I expected to keep an eye out for me and visit me before anyone else. He looks genuinely worried, so I guess I could let this slide. After nodding my head to the silent waving giant, I first approached Damian for he was the one who came to me first.

"I'm fine. I figured I should take a walk." I answered the boys, smiling pleasantly.

Damian then patted my head, taking me by surprise as I let out a small yelp. He was smiling brightly much like Zale's grin, making me blush slightly.

"Well, don't push yourself tonight then. When it gets dark, we'll find Katana and scout around."

I cringed at that certain name in worry, feeling my shoulders become very stiff. The men in front of me had looked at me in concern after I let out a rather small noise. My eyes then narrowed then at the ground, nodding my head as a silent answer. The leader lowered his hand down from my head after letting out a sigh. I know this isn't the right time to be dwelling in matters like this, but I couldn't help it. I still don't know how I should approach the red flame holder. Suddenly, footsteps started rushing to our direction as they were coming closer and closer. The four of us turned to the source and saw a distraught Kaza and a very worried Eve.

The gray haired boy yelled, "Captain, we have a problem!"

"What's wrong?" The leader quickly asked with a confused and astounded look.

Eve replied while panting, "O-Oguri was ambushed and kidnapped! Katana went after them!"

My blue eyes widened in bewilderment as Zale took an angry step forward. Damian took a moment to glance at us with worry before staring at his team. Why would they want to kidnap Oguri now out of all things and people?!

"Where are they?!" Zale demanded, gripping on to his sword and showing a rather scary look.

"They are running down the south path." Kaza replied through gritted teeth. Zale then started running off as he made a sharp right turn on the gravel path. Half of the group, including myself, cried after him for his safety and to come back. However, something caused me to fear for something far more important and scarier. I saw the robed shadow figure again, standing at the last place we saw Zale. He floated there with his eyes still covered by a hood and slowly disintegrated into thin air.

"Dammit! You all stay here! I'll go get th..!"

"I'm going too!" I interrupted Damian with a frantic shout, still staring at the spot the figure once was with a fearful look.

The man blocked my path by stretching his arm in front of me, but I immediately slapped it away. This action startled everyone, but I could care less. I looked up at him with a determined look, frowning deeply in disapproval.

"Asaya, your wounds..."

"It doesn't matter! Zale doesn't like bandits very much, and he loses his temper very quickly. I have to be there to stop him before something drastic happens!"

I have been wondering why I haven't seen that mysterious figure in such a long time until now. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he decided to show up now after things started to get very serious. After he started acting weird and after he lost his necklace. I think it's about time I stop pondering about what happened between Katana and I and deal with the more important things.

Damian finally gave in, and allowed me to come with him. The both of us ran to the same direction the green flame holder went to. We were focused on not bumping into anyone and the matters before us. I still don't understand why the bandits want the kid, and for some reason, it is making me very angry. Passing the potato fields, we now are running on a dirt path as the day started to turn into twilight. I was slowly growing impatient that I took out my chakram and stretched it out in front of me. Damian turned to me with a quizzical look before gasping in awe the moment I placed my other hand on top of it to shadow it with my flame. It started glowing pure white as I narrowed my blue eyes into an emotionless state and raised the chakram in the air.

"Be _Swift_!" I recanted, causing our feet to feel lighter. As the Arc Liners leader was more distracted with how he was running faster and the sudden change of speed, I took the time to put my weapon away and focus on putting more force to run ahead of him.

I could hear him screaming after me, "Asaya, wait!"

In due time, the both of us caught up to our friends and the bandits that are fighting in front of a small entrance to a forest path. The numbers between my friends and the bandits were terribly outnumbered. I saw one of them carrying an unconscious Oguri, but they were just idling away from the others while being guarded. I stopped running near the group to whip out my chakrams as Damian ran past me to guard me with a pair of guns.

He flashed me a smile, "Ready when you are."

I smiled back, "Thanks for the support."

"Haha, it kinda helps when Eve is similar to ya."

I pursed my lips, remembering the cute blue haired elf. Though, I couldn't help but agree and it slightly annoys me because it just reminded me of how much time I wonder about her magic. Raising my chakram in the air, it started shining brightly as a sparkly aura surrounded Zale and Katana. Then, a red aura swirled around the four of us. After that, I readied myself to an offensive stance after noticing the bandits had turned to us.

"Thanks for the heal and boost!" The dirty blonde cried out with a smirk before proceeding to defeat the next enemy.

"You…" Katana murmured in awe, looking at herself then at me. Damian rolled through the crowd of bandits, knocking them out. I exchanged eye contact to the brown haired female with an unchanging emotionless frown. After noticing a bandit was about to hit her from behind, I gasped in shock and threw my chakram at the person to push them away. Katana looked back at the victim with a startled look as I took this time to run towards the one who was carrying Oguri.

"Don't, Asaya!" The other female cried out in worry.

Grabbing my chakram when it flew back to me, I flashed a reassuring smile at her. "Thanks for stalling! I'll get him!"

"No, don't!" I ignored her warning and proceeded to attack my sole opponent.

He was simply dodging like this was nothing to him. It made me feel somewhat irritated until an evil smirk crept across his face. All of my rage grew cold and the next thing I knew there was smoke across the battlefield.

"God dammit, who used a smoke bomb?!" A scream from Zale was heard, stating the obvious.

My body started shivering in fear. Someone used a smoke bomb to distract everyone and cease the fighting. I couldn't see a thing. No one is around me, except the presence of smoke. In my mind, I started to throb in pain at the reminder of my founded memories days ago. I couldn't move a muscle. My own fear is consuming me. Suddenly, a body was being tossed pass by me as I immediately recognized it to be my child companion Oguri. Slowly, concern and worry overwhelmed me and my body finally started to move to run after him. Something then caught my arm. When I tried to pull it away, I tilted my head to look at the one gripping it. To me, I saw a shadow figure of a rather tall male with a very creepy smile. I grinded my teeth in irritation because of my throbbing head and sudden chest pain that I begin to feel. When I finally calmed down, I realized my mind was playing tricks and it turned out that it was the same bandit who had Oguri. In the midst of the smoke, he had successfully tied my hands behind me and took my weapons in the process.

"Retreat! We got the girl!"

My mouth wavered for no words managed to escape. I had felt all of this happening before. Something like this happened to me. Tears started forming in the corner of my eyes, and the last thing I saw was the smoke finally lifting and Oguri finally awakening. The bandit put me over his shoulder where I could see the others when I perk my head up. We were running away.

"Asaya! Bring her back! ASAYA!" I heard Zale yelling in rage while he was attempting to cut through the barrage of bandits. I tried mouthing his name to call for him, but I was too shaken up by this horrible nostalgia. Slowly and slowly, I could see the others fighting in the distance as the bandits are stalling for the capture to be successful. Oguri finally stood up from what I noticed and the look on his face was filled with despair. I've…seen that look before…!

"Asaya!" The kid's voice rang in my head, making me choke out tears.

I shut my eyes forcefully and screamed at the top of my lungs, "HELP ME!"

And in that moment, I realized that light doesn't always prevail all.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Sup guys! Happy New Year! Have a surprise for me and hope that everyone has a wonderful New Years Resolution that will motivate you to do whatever you want to. I have some updates, so here you go. I have been engaged in real life since July! Yay, I know. I went to school and graduated a month ago. I also..came back to Mabinogi. Ever since then, I have gotten the motivation I needed to edit and upload this. Who knew I needed that in my life? LOL I have made a new character by my FF name in the Alexina server. Anyways, enough talking. I have a question for you all! For the small amount of readers I have, I want to know who is your favorite character so far and why. Let me know! I'm interested. Hope you guys enjoy the first day of 2017. Peace!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything Mabinogi-related. Duh.

:)

* * *

 _ **VIII**_

 _ **The Heart of the Sword**_

Katana, Zale, and Oguri ended up in a rather devastating situation under a clear night sky. The bandits had fled with their friend, and the remaining ones that the group managed to defeat lied around the field and path. The four fell silent upon the realization that they weren't able to save Asaya. Damian and Katana both searched every bandit for any stolen goods or any leads where the main bandit base would be located. Zale simply stood there in the middle of the corpse field, where shadows soon consumed the bandits and disappeared. He gripped his sword's hilt tightly before mounting his shield on his back. The warrior feel disappointed and a hint of inner rage because of the fact the bandits had taken away someone very close to him once again. Although, he couldn't help, but feel empathetic to Oguri's wavering emotions as well. The green flame holder has been watching the child punch the ground for a good five minutes while on the verge of tears. He has never realized how much of an impact Asaya was to him until now, and it was strangely suspicious to the point he had to wonder.

"Guess the swords on the ground were the ones stolen earlier." Damian announced as he picked up a short sword to observe it. On the sword is a trademark of a blacksmith. A very unique symbol that not even the merchant himself could not point out the ownership of the item.

Katana nodded in agreement. She was glad that there weren't any citizens among the ambush. Otherwise, she would have lost her mind. The pounding from Oguri suddenly came to a halt, and the three is left staring at him with concern.

Zale finally approach the child from behind, who then ended up standing in silence with narrowing eyes. Just watching him grieve is enough to make him sane because he doesn't feel so alone to losing Asaya.

"We'll get her back. Let's go back in town, Oguri." His voice calm and confident for he hopes that it would be enough to loosen up the negative feelings overwhelming the boy.

Oguri clenched his fists together so tight that it started visibly shaking. Without hesitation, he then turned to face his friend and punched him flat on his cheek. The force was strong enough to send the dirty blonde to the ground. Both the Arc Liners flinched before running to the scene in order to stop it from escalating.

"What the fuck, man?!" Zale cursed angrily while rubbing his cheek and standing back up on his feet with the help of Katana.

Damian was holding the blue flame warrior back by wrapping his arms under his shoulders. Oguri was struggling to break free. "How can you say that so calmly?! How can you all be so stupid!?"

His piercing dark eyes then glared at the brown-haired female, "And YOU knew that they were after her! Why didn't you stop her!?"

"I.." The girl started responding in a hushed tone, taken back at the sudden outburst.

Oguri shook his head rapidly, "This is unacceptable! I can't believe this..."

"Oguri…" Damian muttered in sympathy, looking down at the boy with a frown. Zale was at loss for words. In front of him was a fellow flame warrior who he thought was stoic, apathetic, sarcastic, and cool headed. As soon as Asaya was gone from the picture, he breaks down. He remembered him mentioning that the Crusade had killed his friends and family. The scar from those events are now showing.

"Passing blame and crying about it won't help anyone here!" Katana finally retorted with her hands on her hips.

"You're one to talk, considering you fought Asaya for something she didn't do, right?!"

Katana flinched at the boy's harsh words, letting out an audible gasp. She then looks at her side, not knowing how to respond back to the truth. It still makes her mad at herself for allowing her emotions to get to her last night. A sword's pommel swiftly attacked Oguri's stomach, causing him to freeze up immediately and fall forward with his eyes closing.

"Zale!" Katana and Damian both cried out as the Arc Liners leader caught the boy in his arms. The gunner single-handedly shifted Oguri, so that he can carry him by his shoulder. After sheathing his sword, the silent Zale walked over to an area of swords as the Arc Liners stared at him with a tiny hint of fear in their eyes. Something seemed off about him. He almost looks…possessed.

"He was getting on my nerves, sorry. Let's grab these weapons and return them." The man said to them in a somewhat monotone voice.

"Oh..kay." Damian answered slowly, exchanging eye contact to Katana, who looked as worried as he was.

Katana and Zale were the only ones capable of carrying the weapons alone. The group walked silently to the town, even when the road is pitch black due to the time of day. As soon as the town of Dunbarton came into view, the three also saw Kino and Kaza waiting for them near the south entrance gate. Kaza asked what happened to Oguri, and Damian answered with a promise to tell them what happened later. Kino took the boy from the leader, seeing how he can easily lift him up. When they arrived in front of the unicorn statue, they met up with Senna. Zale suddenly collapsed on the ground with the weapons he was carrying scatter around him. For a few minutes of the others yelling at him with concern and making sure he is okay, the warrior eventually woke up. Zale looks very confused when he observed his surroundings. He obviously looked rather weak mixed with confusion before planting a hand on his face.

"What the hell happened?" The green flame warrior spoke quietly as he lifts himself off the ground.

"You just fainted at the sight of me, you jerk!" Senna scowled at him, stomping her foot forward.

Zale then started picking up the weapons once again, ignoring the girl's angry reaction, "I'm sorry.."

Damian placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's fine. We're all exhausted, so we'll rest and think about what to do tomorrow."

Kaza had knocked on the unicorn statue already before the doors to the base open. It was surrounded by Eve's aura, making it obvious that she was the one who opened it. She appeared from the shadows with a look full of worry. Zale nodded his head towards the Arc Liners leader and fell silent. He knew that he is exhausted and the weapons belong to residents of the town. He knew that Asaya was captured, Oguri was feeling depressed, but for some reason, he was knocked out? Zale honestly doesn't remember him passing out.

The group walked inside before the door once again closes behind them. Eve flashed a concerning look to the entire group behind her once in a while. She could sense the disappointment, the worry, and even fear in their eyes. The moment the light blue eyes of the elf locked on Oguri over Kino's arm, they widened in astonishment.

"Wh-what happened to him?"

At this time, they arrived to the room. Kino gently put the unconscious Oguri on the couch as the other ones followed Damian to put the weapons away. The elf walked up to the blue flame warrior's side and crouched down beside him. She stares at his face with a worried look on her own. After they carefully dumped the weapons near a wall, Damian stretched his arms out.

Katana released a heavy sigh and plopped herself on a chair, "Well..Zale knocked him out."

"I did?"

"He did?"

The elf and the warrior both responded in unison before all eyes seems to glance at him in confusion. Zale looked at the Liners with a facial expression of confusion and even hurt. He then took a peek at his young traveling partner and Eve in thought.

"Yeah. Don't you remember?" Katana replied with a brow raised skeptically. Damian remembered how he had knocked out Oguri. The way he viewed it, it was almost as if he was trying not to hurt him any further. The look on his face had a murderous glare in his green eyes. Now there is an innocent and dumbfounded vibe from him. It made the leader narrow his eyes in suspicion before taking a step forward.

"Don't worry about it. We have more important things to worry about, Katana."

Katana folded her arms over her chest and let out another sigh, "Yes, I'm aware."

The brown-haired gunner smiled at his vice captain before turning his head towards the others. He knew that she is still silently sulking, but it is his job to keep everyone in order. This is a dire time for him and his friends.

"Asaya has been kidnapped by the bandits." Damian started informing his team, "We also got these weapons from the bandits that we defeated that we think belong to some residents."

He pointed at the said objects as he continued, "So tomorrow, we'll split in two teams. I'll make it voluntarily for everyone. One group will search for Asaya and the other will return them."

Zale stepped up, "It's a given that Oguri and I will look for Asaya."

The leader nodded his head towards the flame warrior in agreement. He already expected that, considering they are the closest to the girl. His green eyes shifted to his vice captain as if expecting her to join the search for the missing girl. She has this frown while leaning against the wall. He could tell that she is considering it, but something is obviously stopping her from doing so. The Arc Liners leader exchanged eye contact with the rest of the team, watching them nod their heads in approval.

Damian then coughed to break the sudden silence, "All in favor Katana joins the search, say Aye!"

"AYE!" Everyone except a startled Katana and Oguri answered with a fist in the air.

The brunette pushed herself off the wall to look at the others, flustered at the sudden event. "Hey! I thought it was a volunteer thing!"

Senna grinned rather menacingly, "It is~...We volunteer you."

Katana whipped her head towards the younger girl, astounded by the blunt attitude of her comrade. The younger brunette leaned forward and stared straight at the purple eyes of Katana with the same menacing grin.

"Come on, Katana...Didn't you want to apologize to Asaya somehow? You, out of all the Liners, have more of a reason to join them." The brother added calmly, lifting his hand in front of him as if gesturing her to follow them.

Everyone stared at the female intensively. Anyone could see how flustered she is being every second until a heavy sigh released from her mouth. With a light blush, the young fighter rubbed the back of her head in defeat. It is a given that her group leader was spot on about the truth. Katana did want to make it up to her for causing unnecessary pain because of a dumb assumption of hers. Damian is feeling guilty because he was with them when Asaya was taken. Everyone else could only worry about the newcomer's safety.

"Alright, I'll help find her."

Everyone was delighted upon hearing her words. However, Senna's grin immediately faded into a deep frown. She then looked at Oguri with worry in her emerald eyes before clearing her throat.

"Hey brother, can I join the search too?"

Damian looked at his sister in quizzically, "Sure. But why?"

"Reasons!" She replied with an obvious blush on her face and turned to stomp away towards the exit/entrance. "Night everyone~ Going home!"

"Senna, wait!" Damian followed after his sister, who was then followed by the ever so silent Kino.

Everyone else who was left behind remained silent and confused as to what had happened. It was to the point everyone exchange worried glances here and there, except Katana, who kept a stoic facial expression. In the end, Kaza left afterwards for the night. Eve decided to stay to heal the ones wounded, including Oguri. She passed out after hours of healing on the sofa chair from fatigue as Katana put a yellow blanket to cover the elf. Zale had been keeping an eye on his friend silently while cleaning his weapons. Once in a while, he would glance at the only awake Arc Liner to observe her. Her facial expression is as emotionless as always.

"Senna feels guilty too…" Katana spoke after putting a red blanket over Oguri.

Zale glanced at her with curiosity, "How so?"

"During the scouting, she saw a bandit and recklessly got herself ambushed. Oguri jumped in to help her, but that kinda what got him kidnapped." She paused to sit on the other end of the couch Zale was sitting on. "I just happened to see the kidnappers and the others."

"You guys really are like a close-knitted family." Zale chuckled as he observed his sword to see if he is missing a spot.

Katana leaned back with an exasperated sigh and stared at the ceiling, "I mean, I guess."

"You guess?" Zale repeated with confusion.

"Kaza, Eve, and I were traveling together before we met Kino, Damian, and his sister. We all got along, fought battles together, and came across Dunbarton only to unintentionally bring peace."

As Zale continue to clean his shield now, the warrior quietly listened to the fighter. Her eyes still stuck to the ceiling as she allowed herself to reminisce. Loneliness can be seen in the void of her purple eyes.

"The three of us knew each other since childhood…Even though Kaza is a human, us girls are elves." Katana lifted her hair to show the small pointy ears to the warrior. "The Arc Liners made me feel connected because all of us are looking for something."

Zale pursed his lips, not knowing what to say to the rather melancholic female. He wasn't really surprised when she admitted she was an elf. During the battle between Asaya and her, the warrior noticed her rather unique ears. It would explain her extremely fast speed.

"What are you looking for?" The dirty blonde warrior asked as the girl's facial expression darkened immensely. It was pretty obvious that whatever it was, it really makes her blood boil. The silent female shifted herself to sit straight up, and finally stopped staring at the ceiling to look straight forward.

"Six years ago, the three of us were betrayed and I've been looking for those... _backstabbers_.." She raised her hand to clutch it in the air and sneered when saying that word, "I want to give them a big punch on their faces and say 'Screw you for breaking our trust. Screw you for hurting us.'"

Zale narrowed his green eyes at her for a moment before putting his weapons away at the couch's side. He could sense her pain, and he can understand why Asaya held back last night. She was hesitating because she had sensed it faster than any of them. All this time, she had been thinking of a stranger like Katana. He sighed and lowered his head in defeat as he started to wonder if his friend is alright. Zale is starting to feel guilty for not being there for her in her time of need. Why is it now he has realized it?

"Why were you guys in town, anyway?"

The warrior let out a short sigh and smiled, "Have you heard of the legend of the chosen Flame holders and the Crusade?"

In the midst of waking up, all I could feel is a draft and something restraining my legs and arms. I feel total exhaustion to the point I couldn't open my eyes. In my head, all I could see is the look on Oguri's face. It really pains me to see the total devastation and regret that he had revealed. I didn't understand why in my heart, I am hurting from the sight of it. The voices of the bandits are distant and very hard for me to understand what they are saying. I only recognized the only human, responding in the common language of a fomor conversation. The human has a rather deep voice, assuming it is a man. I couldn't make out any words, but it sounds like this human was ordering the fomor bandits. I tried my best to tune in to the conversation, but the moment I did, the conversation stopped. Footsteps begin to roam closer towards my direction. It was then I felt presences in front of me. I heard the strange fomorian talk, causing someone to grunt in acknowledgement. The voices are much clearer this time.

"Keep her alive and don't let her escape."

I managed to open my eyes into tiny slits, only to see two imps and a pair of black shoes standing in front of me. I realized then I was lying down on my side. I started to fear what was going on as I quietly listened to the conversation.

"Tell your leader to prepare for the attack in two days."

Attack..? No, you're kidding me! The imps grunted then before walking off in the other direction. I made an attempt to move my body or mouth, but nothing happens. I started to think that exhaustion may not be the only reason I feel very restrained. The human male turned away for a moment before a pair of white shoes walked into view.

"Guess who I found in town."

"Oh wow~ She's still alive!" The newcomer has a much higher tone in his rather sarcastic voice.

The other one scoffed, "Not her, idiot."

The one with the white shoes spoke in realization, "Oh. Then who?"

"Little Miss Human elf." He answered as he began to walk away to the direction the imp had walked off to.

"Oh, you have got to be shittin' me! I think I'd much rather.."

The duo walked away to continue their conversation. Unfortunately, their voices slowly trailed off to the point I can't hear them anymore. The pair actually sounded very familiar as well, especially the high -pitched male. My eyes closed, feeling a bit of relief I didn't have to strain myself. I don't know where I ended up in, but it looks like I am inside a building. I saw walls, despite that the area was very dark to even tell they were walls. The duo's footsteps couldn't be heard anymore, so all I could hear is silence. It is slowly killing me.

Everything is happening at once. Those two strangers are working with the bandits, and they sound like they had recognized me. It would make sense. I also recognized their voices. My mind slowly drifted into the dream world of nothing.

Will I finally be able to find out who I am…?


End file.
